Senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalisation, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health.
McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of tests to try and determine what led to his fall. He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation facility.
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumours or haemorrhages,” McConnell said, adding that he is now “regaining my strength”.
McConnell’s statement came on the heels of the unexpected death of his fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. McConnell said he cannot return to the Senate “quite yet”.
Coupled with Graham’s death, that will temporarily whittle the Republican majority in that chamber down by two, to 51-47, as Republicans try to increase military funding, advance President Donald Trump’s agenda and confirm Trump’s nominees.
McConnell explained the four-week silence about his condition by saying that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older”.