Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suffered a concussion after falling Wednesday night and will remain in hospital for several days for observation and treatment, spokesman David Popp said in a statement. released Thursday afternoon.
McConnell with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Screenshot file.
McConnell fell while attending a fundraising dinner for the Senate Leadership Fund Super PAC at the Waldorf Astoria DC, located in the former Trump Hotel in the Old Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
“Chef McConnell tripped during dinner on Wednesday night and was admitted to hospital and is being treated for a concussion. He is expected to remain in hospital for a few days for observation and treatment. Chef is grateful to healthcare professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes.
Gray News reporter Stetson Miller published Popp’s statement:
Breaking: We learn that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is being treated for a concussion after he tripped over dinner last night. @GrayDCnews pic.twitter.com/v8aylX4ox8
— Stetson Miller (@stetsonmreports) March 9, 2023
CBS News reporter Alan He reported that Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) commented on McConnell’s condition, “Barrasso re: McConnell after leaving GOP luncheon ‘He’ll be fine.’ He will be observed, you know the concussion protocol, I expect a full recovery. Q. Does he talk to people? “Yeah, he’s awake talking to people.”
Barrasso re: McConnell after leaving GOP luncheon
“He will be fine. He will be observed, you know the concussion protocol, I expect a full recovery.
Q. Does he talk to people?
“Yeah, he’s awake and talking to people.”
— Alan He (@alanhe) March 9, 2023
McConnell’s staff had been unavailable in an initial statement released late Wednesday evening about McConnell’s downfall, “”Chef McConnell stumbled into a local hotel during a private dinner tonight. He was admitted to hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Punchbowl News first reported McConnell’s downfall.
/2 McConnell, 81, was at an event at the Waldorf Astoria DC when he fell, our sources say.
We have no further information on the extent of McConnell’s injuries or his prognosis.
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) March 9, 2023
McConnell, 81, limped after a childhood case of polio in 1944.
McConnell fractured his shoulder in 2019 in a fall at his home in Louisville, Kentucky.
In 2003, McConnell underwent triple heart bypass.
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and took office in 1985. He has served as Republican leader since 2007 and Senate Majority Leader from 2015 to 2021.