Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, Hospitalized After Fall: Spokesperson

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican from Kentucky) was admitted to the hospital after falling at a Washington hotel. His spokesperson confirmed this on March 8.

David Popp, a spokesperson for the Senator at age 81, stated that he was going to a private dinner at a nearby hotel when he got tripped.

“This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment,” Popp stated, but did not provide further information.

McConnell, the Senate’s longest-serving GOP leader, had been at an event at the Waldorf Astoria when he fell, according to Punchbowl News.

In 2019, the Republican lawmaker had been hospitalized for another fall at home in Kentucky. This resulted to him breaking his shoulder.

The senator’s spokesperson at the time was available. said he had tripped on the outdoor patio at his residence in Louisville and received medical treatment.

McConnell, who was diagnosed with polio in his youth before there was a vaccine, is an avowed survivor.

Combat Polio

While the majority of individuals with polio do not display any visible symptoms, a small portion of those diagnosed develop serious symptoms that impact the brain and spinal cord, including meningitis and paralysis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2018, McConnell told a conference on polio eradication at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that doctors had warned his mother that he shouldn’t walk after his diagnosis.

His symptoms included paralysis in part of his left leg and, at the time time, he periodically visited a polio rehabilitation institute for treatment.

“So my mother, like a drill sergeant, literally watched me every waking moment for two years,” McConnell said. “After two years, my first memory in life was our last visit to Warm Springs, where the nurse told my mother, ‘I think he’s going to be OK.'”

His experience inspired him to support vaccination efforts as well as the tracking of cases around the globe.

“I think it’s under-appreciated outside the public health community just how much hard work and innovation has to continue after a disease has dropped off the front pages,” McConnell said, adding that without continued support, “progress could erode rapidly.”

McConnell was elected first to the U.S. Senate on August 14, 1984. He served as the Senate majority leader between 2015 and 2021 and has been the Senate’s minority leader ever since.

He was a judge-executive in Jefferson County, Kentucky from 1978 until his election as senator.

More Lawmakers Hospitalized

McConnell’s hospitalization comes shortly after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the oldest member of the Senate, was hospitalized after contracting shingles.

“I was diagnosed over the February recess with a case of the shingles,” Feinstein’s office released a statement March 2nd. “I have been hospitalized and am receiving treatment in San Francisco and expect to make a full recovery. I hope to return to the Senate later this month.”

Since then, the Democrat was released from hospital, although it is unclear when she will return to Washington.

Elsewhere, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.), 53, who suffered a stroke during his campaign trail last year, remains hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he has been receiving treatment for clinical depression since last month.

His office said He announced late last month that it was his intention to retire. “doing well, working with the wonderful doctors, and remains on a path to recovery.”

The absences of the Democratic lawmakers have made things difficult for Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is already navigating a very narrow 51-49 majority as opposed to the 50-50 split of the previous two years.

The Epoch Times has contacted McConnell’s office for comment.

This report was contributed by Reuters