Mitch McConnell freezes for second time in echo of prior episode

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Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, froze and struggled to answer a reporter’s question on Wednesday in a startling incident that echoed a similar episode last month.

McConnell was taking questions from reporters in his home state of Kentucky when he appeared to freeze for more than 30 seconds after being asked whether he would seek re-election in 2026.

A video of the exchange shows an aide asking McConnell if he had heard the question. When the Senate minority leader did not reply, she told reporters: “I’m sorry, y’all, we’re going to need a minute.”

McConnell later continued with the press conference, during which his aide had to on several occasions repeat reporters’ questions before he answered. Later, a spokesperson said the senator had felt “momentarily lightheaded” while an aide added he would see a doctor before his next event.

It was the second time in as many months that the 81-year-old senator from Kentucky froze while speaking to reporters, rekindling uncomfortable questions about the age and health of McConnell and other senior politicians in Washington.

Last month he suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence during his weekly press conference at the US Capitol. He later made light of the incident, telling reporters he was “sandbagged” — a reference to President Joe Biden, 80, who tripped over a sandbag following a speech at the Air Force Academy in June.

Biden has faced persistent questions about his own age as he seeks re-election. He is already the oldest president in US history and if re-elected would be 86 at the end of a second four-year term.

There are signs that voter worries about his age could weigh on his re-election bid. An AP poll out this week found 77 per cent of Americans, including 69 per cent of Democrats, said Biden was too old to effectively serve another four-year term.

Biden declined to answer a reporter’s question on Wednesday about whether McConnell should continue serving in the Senate. But he called the senator “a good friend” and said he would “try and get in touch with him later this afternoon”.

Questions have also swirled in recent months about the health and mental capacity of Dianne Feinstein, the 90-year-old Democratic senator from California, who was absent from the Senate for several months earlier this year after being diagnosed with shingles.

McConnell also had a lengthy absence from the Senate earlier this year after suffering a fall at an event at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington. He was hospitalised and treated for a concussion.

After last month’s incident on Capitol Hill, a McConnell spokesperson said that the Senate minority leader “appreciates the continued support of his colleagues, and plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do”.