Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suffered a concussion after he fell Wednesday night and will remain in the hospital for several days for observation and treatment according to spokesman David Popp in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
McConnell with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) File screen image.
McConnell fell while he was attending a fundraising dinner for the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC at the Waldorf Astoria DC, located at the former Trump Hotel at the Old Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
“Leader McConnell tripped at a dinner event Wednesday evening and has been admitted to the hospital and is being treated for a concussion. He is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days of observation and treatment. The Leader is grateful to the medical professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes.”
Gray News reporter Stetson Miller posted Popp’s statement:
Breaking: We're learning that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is being treated for a concussion after tripping at a dinner event last night. @GrayDCnews pic.twitter.com/v8aylX4ox8
— Stetson Miller (@stetsonmreports) March 9, 2023
CBS News reporter Alan He reported Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) commented on McConnell’s condition, “Barrasso re: McConnell after leaving the GOP lunch “He’s going to be fine. He’s going to be observed you know concussion protocol, I expect a full recovery.” Q. Is he talking to people? “Yeah, he’s awake talking to people.””
Barrasso re: McConnell after leaving the GOP lunch
“He’s going to be fine. He's going to be observed you know concussion protocol, I expect a full recovery.”
Q. Is he talking to people?
“Yeah, he's awake talking to people.”
— Alan He (@alanhe) March 9, 2023
McConnell’s staff had not been forthcoming in an initial statement released late Wednesday night about McConnell’s fall, ““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.”
Punchbowl News first reported McConnell’s fall.
/2 The 81-year old McConnell was at an event at the Waldorf Astoria DC when he fell, according to our sources.
We have no further information on the extent of McConnell’s injuries or his prognosis
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) March 9, 2023
McConnell, 81, has a limp from a childhood case of polio in 1944.
McConnell fractured his shoulder in 2019 in a fall at his Louisville, Kentucky home.
In 2003, McConnell underwent triple heart bypass surgery.
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, taking office in 1985. He has served as Republican Leader since 2007 and was Senate Majority Leader from 2015-2021.