News/Commentary

McConnell hospitalized after tripping and falling at Washington D.C. hotel

March 9, 2023 | | Print Article

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized after he fell during a private dinner at a Washington, D.C. hotel on Wednesday night, the extent of his injuries – if any – are currently unknown.

While details of the Kentucky Republican’s condition after he took a tumble are scarce, a spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement after the incident occurred.

“This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner,” said David Popp, the senator’s communications director. “He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment.”

His office did not provide further information on McConnell’s fall or whether he will miss any time in the Senate while he recovers.

According to a report from Punchbowl News, the 81-year-old lawmaker was attending the event at the Waldorf Astoria DC, a property that was once owned by former President Donald J. Trump.

He is the third senator to be hospitalized in recent weeks with fellow octogenarian Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) checking in for treatment of shingles and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) undergoing treatment for depression.

McConnell’s hospitalization comes after he blasted Fox News for allowing Tucker Carlson to air previously unseen footage from the January 6, 2021 chaos at the U.S. Capitol that showed that the official narrative about the so-called “insurrection” was greatly exaggerated, particularly footage of police acting as “tour guides” for Jacob Chansley aka the “QAnon Shaman” who was seen being calmly escorted around the building.

“My concern is how it was depicted,” McConnell told reporters, “It was a mistake in my view for Fox News to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance” with the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police’s account of the chaos at the Capitol.

Early reactions from Twitter users weren’t exactly sympathetic for the GOP minority leader who is widely despised by conservatives – especially Trump supporters – with some suggesting that his spill was the result of karma paying a visit.

https://twitter.com/TameraL36320095/status/1633774844948131841?s=20

https://twitter.com/AlwaysFlacko/status/1633771235317276673?s=20

In 2019, McConnell also took a bad spill, fracturing his shoulder after tripping on his outdoor patio at his Louisville, Kentucky home.

McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984, recently became the longest-serving Senate leader when the new Congress convened, breaking the record of 16 years previously held by Montana Democrat Mike Mansfield who led the Senate from 1961 to 1977.

He is currently serving his seventh term in the Senate where he was the upper chamber’s majority leader from 2015 to 2021.

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Chris Donaldson
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