Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate’s Republican party, collapsed at a hotel on Wednesday night and was brought to a hospital in Washington, DC, according to a spokesperson.
David Popp said that 81-year-old McConnell collapsed “during a private dinner”.
McConnell had a concussion, and according to Popp’s announcement on Thursday, he will spend a few days in the hospital being observed and receiving care.
“The leader is grateful to the medical professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes,” according to Popp.
McConnell overcame polio as a kid. He stumbled and broke his shoulder in 2019 while at home in Kentucky.
Images of his bandaged and bruised wrists as well as the bruises around his lips led to health concerns being shot down in 2020.
He didn’t specify what resulted in the bruises. The website Snopes, which verifies information, stated that theories include “Covid-19 to the possibility that McConnell has a vascular disease and/or is undergoing dialysis and is taking blood thinners; a definitive answer is not yet available.”
Due to sickness, the Senate has recently been missing a number of its members.
The 89-year-old California Democrat Dianne Feinstein’s office reported that she was treated for shingles in the hospital last week.
John Fetterman, a 53-year-old Democrat from Pennsylvania who had a stroke during his campaign the previous year, has been receiving treatment for severe depression while he remains in the hospital.
Thursday’s hearing on the Ohio train hazardous leak included questions that were presented to Fetterman, who then filed his own.
For Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who must govern with a 51-49 majority, such absences have been difficult.
On the Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer said he had contacted McConnell and spoken with his staff “to extend my prayers and well wishes”.
Although being only the fourth-oldest member of the current Senate, McConnell has served as its leader for the longest period of time. Feinstein is the senior senator by three months over fellow Republican from Iowa and age 89, Charles Grassley. The independent candidate from Vermont is 81 years old.
