During the weekly Senate Republican Agenda press conference on Wednesday afternoon, McConnell was speaking to reporters when he suddenly froze. He remained at the podium for more than 30 seconds without speaking, and his colleagues eventually had to escort him away.
Later that day, he made jokes about getting a call from President Joe Biden with a number of congressional reporters. He returned shortly after to take questions. “The president called to see how I was doing. I informed him that I had been sandbagging,” McConnell told the press.
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Many people have theorized that the incident is connected to a wound McConnell sustained in March of this year.
However, several sources tell NBC’s Garrett Haake and Sahil Kapur that McConnell had a much more recent spill on July 14 while getting off a plane at Reagan National Airport: “McConnell, 81, was seen at the Capitol later that day and engaged in conversation with at least one reporter. He was not seriously hurt.
The flight out of Washington was cancelled while everyone was on board, which led to the fall on July 14 that has not yet been reported. McConnell, R-Ky., who was a passenger on the flight, “face-planted,” according to a witness who was on the plane but did not see the fall, who spoke to NBC News. Additionally, that passenger claimed to have spoken with another passenger who assisted in tending to McConnell after his fall.
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According to a source familiar with his routines, the top Republican in the Senate has also recently started using a wheelchair as a preventative measure when navigating busy airports.
The incident happened a few months after Leader McConnell concussed himself after falling at a hotel in Washington.