Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze in front of reporters, gripping a podium while struggling to speak, for the second time on camera this summer.
The Kentucky Republican was eventually led away, similar to an incident at a press conference with GOP Senate leaders last month.
Today’s incident marks the second time in little over one month that McConnell has appeared to suffer a medical emergency in public:
The 81-year-old is the longest-serving party leader in the history of the United States Senate.
Weighing in on last month’s health scare, one physician described the video of McConnell freezing as an “acute” medical event that could be classified as an emergency.
Michael Bessette, a medical professor and retired emergency physician, explained how he would’ve treated McConnell, starting with a simple blood sugar check:
“I would also do an electrocardiogram [ECG], which is also quick and easy,” he continued. “Whether or not you’re doing a CT scan of his head—at his age, I would say that there’s a 90% chance I’d do that unless I encountered some reason that says otherwise.”
To determine the likely cause of McConnell’s moment of daze would require knowledge of his behavior leading up to, and following, the acute episode.
“A lot of it depends on how he was acting before and after the episode, and what if anything he can recall from [it],” Bessette says. “That is what gives you a lot of the best information about how to narrow down the list of possible causes.”
Earlier this year, McConnell suffered a fall that resulted in an injured rib and a concussion. Though he is deemed to have recovered, the lingering effects from such a brain injury could have caused McConnell to go quiet—particularly considering the senator’s advanced age, says Art Kramer, professor of psychology and founding director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health at Northeastern.
“Concussion effects can last for much longer than we used to think,” Kramer said. “And as you get older, concussions have more serious effects.”
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