McConnell Sprains Wrist in Fall at Capitol; Colleague Says He’s Fine

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This is the latest health incident for the 82-year-old McConnell, who has been in the Senate since 1985 and has led the Senate GOP since 2007.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tripped and fell on Dec. 10 on Capitol Hill, suffering a sprained wrist and a cut to his face.

“Leader McConnell tripped following lunch. He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist. He has been cleared to resume his schedule,” a McConnell spokesman told The Epoch Times.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who will succeed McConnell as Senate GOP leader in January, told reporters following the weekly Senate GOP policy luncheon that McConnell is “fine” and “in his office.” He referred any questions about McConnell to the senator’s staff.

This is the latest health incident for the 82-year-old McConnell, who has been in the Senate since 1985 and has led the Senate GOP since 2007.

On July 26, 2023, McConnell appeared to freeze during a press conference following the weekly Senate GOP policy luncheon. He stepped aside briefly, then returned to the lectern and said he was “fine.”

A McConnell aide told The Epoch Times after that incident that the senator “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment” and “came back to handle Q&A, which, as everyone observed, was sharp.”

During a press conference on Aug. 30, McConnell again froze, this time twice. The first time, an aide asked if he had heard the question, to which McConnell said “yes,” only to freeze again. McConnell walked away but returned.

McConnell “felt momentarily lightheaded,” an aide told The Epoch Times at the time.

During a September 2023 press conference, in response to a question from The Epoch Times, McConnell said he would finish both his term as Senate GOP leader and his term in the Senate.

McConnell is up for reelection in 2026, but it is not yet known whether he will run again.

McConnell announced in February that he would step down as Senate GOP leader after the 118th Congress. He said he will remain in the Senate.

“As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work,” he said on the Senate floor. “A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”

McConnell, a polio survivor, came to this decision following the death of his sister-in-law.

“Perhaps it is God’s way of reminding you of your own life’s journey to prioritize the impact of the world that we will all inevitably leave behind,” he said.