McConnell Suffered Concussion, Still Hospitalized

UPDATE Mar 9, 2023 1:30 PM CST

Mitch McConnell suffered a concussion when he fell at a Washington hotel and will remain hospitalized “for a few days of observation and treatment,” a spokesman said Thursday. The Senate Republican leader, 81, was at a private dinner Wednesday evening at the Waldorf Astoria in DC when he tripped and fell, per the AP. McConnell's office did not provide additional details on his condition or how long he may be absent from the Senate. The dinner was for the Senate Leadership Fund, a campaign committee aligned with him.

Mar 9, 2023 1:03 AM CST

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized after tripping at a local hotel on Wednesday evening, a spokesman said. The Kentucky senator, 81, was attending a private dinner in Washington when he tripped. He was admitted to a hospital for treatment, spokesman Doug Andres said. McConnell's office did not provide additional detail on his condition or how long he may be absent from the Senate, the AP reports. In 2019, the GOP leader tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture. At the time, he underwent surgery to repair the fracture in his shoulder. The Senate had just started a summer recess and he worked from home for some weeks as he recovered.

The taciturn McConnell is often reluctant to discuss his private life. But at the start of the COVID-19 crisis he opened up about his early childhood experience fighting polio. He described how his mother insisted that he stay off his feet as a toddler and worked with him through a determined physical therapy regime. He has acknowledged some difficulty in adulthood climbing stairs. The Senate, where the average age is 65, has been without several members recently due to illness. Sen. John Fetterman, 53, who suffered a stroke during his campaign last year, was expected to remain out for some weeks as he received care for clinical depression. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, said last week that she had been hospitalized to be treated for shingles.

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