Senate Minority Leader (R) Mitch McConnell suddenly stopped talking during a weekly Republican leadership news conference Wednesday afternoon, appearing to freeze, and then went silent and was escorted away.
McConnell approached the podium for his weekly press conference and began speaking about the annual defense bill on the floor, which he said was proceeding with “good bipartisan cooperation.” But he then appeared to lose his train of thought, trailing off with what sounded like “uh,” and then he just froze at the podium.
Flag: McConnell just stopped abruptly during his opening statement during the gop leadership presser and appeared to be unable to restart talking. He then stepped away and walked away with Barrasso: pic.twitter.com/f1kFUjggzm
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 26, 2023
GOP Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, asked, “Hey Mitch, anything else you want to say? Or should we just go back to your office? Do you want to say anything else to the press?”
A McConnell aide, reports CNN, said the senator “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”
“He came back to handle Q and A, which as everyone observed was sharp,” the aide said.