In the US, the image of a senator paralyzed in front of reporters is sparking a debate in political circles
O Republican Party The President of the United States faces a delicate situation in the Senate. The problem is the health of the party leader in the House of Representatives.
Mitch McConnell He had just delivered a 20minute speech on Wednesday (30) when he addressed journalists to hold a press conference. A reporter asked if he planned to run for reelection in 2026. First, the senator asked that the question be repeated. Then he was silent for 30 seconds without reacting.
McConnell answered a second question and left the room with the help of aides. It was the second time such a situation occurred publicly with the leader of the Republican minority in the US Senate.
When Mitch McConnell spoke to reporters in Congress on July 26, he stopped speaking midspeech. He remained silent for 19 seconds without responding. In March, the senator was away from work for more than a month and was hospitalized for several days after he fell, hit his head and suffered a concussion.
McConnell said he has no plans to leave office. But some groups in Washington are already discussing possible successors to lead the party in the Senate. Three politicians are leading the discussions, they are the “three Johns”: John Thune, 62 years old, Senator from South Dakota; Texan John Cornyn and John Barrasso from Wyoming both 71 years old.
On Thursday (31), the politician’s team released a statement announcing that he had passed the exams in the American Congress and that he had subsequently been given the green light to return to work. The Capitol doctor reported that occasional dizziness is not uncommon in patients recovering from concussions and can also occur with dehydration.
Mitch McConnell turned 81 in February and has been active in American politics for more than three decades. He was first elected as a senator from Kentucky in 1984. At the beginning of 2023, he was the politician who held the leadership of a party in the Senate for the longest time in the history of the United States. The chairman is responsible, among other things, for being the party’s spokesman, negotiating project processes and influencing the progress of the agenda.
The two most recent episodes have raised doubts about whether the senator can remain in office. Even other Republicans expressed concern, thinking that Mitch McConnell’s performance had slipped.
This week, President Joe Biden, a rival party Democrat, spoke to Mitch McConnell and said he was confident the senator would soon return to who he was.