It was an excruciating moment of powerlessness for one of Washington’s most powerful men.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s words dried up and he froze, standing silent and staring straight ahead for around 30 painful seconds in the middle of a press conference Wednesday – the second time he had endured such an uncomfortable on-camera ordeal since July. It is not clear whether it has happened more times away from the public’s gaze. But for a proud senator who has dominated the chamber for many years, the momentary loss of lucidity is embarrassing at the very least, and could become an increasing political problem.
The 81-year-old Kentucky Republican was able to resume his remarks, haltingly answering a question on the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race, and later attended a fundraiser for a Senate candidate. But his misfortune immediately revived questions about his health and age – especially since he suffered a concussion in a fall earlier this year. His office insisted Wednesday that the veteran senator had simply been feeling “momentarily lightheaded.”
More broadly, Wednesday’s events threw the spotlight back onto one of the defining trends in today’s US politics: the senior citizens who have no intention of leaving posts atop the US government, including 80-year-old President Joe Biden, and one former president who wants power back – 77-year-old Donald Trump. Also in the Senate, California’s Dianne Feinstein, 90, has been ill and displayed apparent cognitive decline in public in recent months.
The issue of whether someone is too old to serve is a discomforting one, since it involves discussing private health issues and mortality. And in the case of Feinstein, some have complained that demands for her to leave her job are sexist since plenty of aging male senators – like the late Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who was 99 when he…
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