Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) seemed to think the health of the 81-year-old minority leader of the U.S. Senate was not an issue worth discussing during a sit-down interview with CBS.
Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan sat down with McConnell at the Capitol on Friday to discuss the myriad of issues before Congress, including funding for Israel and Ukraine and the House’s inability to elect a Speaker. She used the opportunity to raise McConnell’s repeated freeze-ups during press conferences over the summer, which prompted speculation over the octogenarian’s health.
A Capitol doctor claimed McConnell showed no signs of a stroke, seizure, or Parkinson’s disease and attributed the moments to potential dehydration, though questions lingered over the repeated instances.
“Is there anything the public should know that wasn’t disclosed?” Brennan asked.
McConnell avoided specifics, a practice he frequently employs with reporters on the Hill when questioned about his health. “I’m in good shape, completely recovered and back on the job,” he told Brennan.
His tight-lipped answer didn’t seem to satisfy Brennan, who wondered if McConnell meant he could still serve “at a time when we are talking about incredible dysfunction in Washington?”
“I think we ought to be talking about what we were talking about earlier, rather than my health,” McConnell shot back.
Fox News Sunday’s Shannon Bream also interviewed McConnell. She said in her introduction to her interview that she also asked about his health and he said “he’s doing great, and has a clean bill of health.” She did not air her questioning on the subject or McConnell’s response.
McConnell garnered support among his GOP Senate colleagues last month after his second freeze-up, which followed a prior one in July and a fall in March that gave him a concussion. The moments still left one senator, fellow GOP Kentuckyian Sen. Rand Paul, with questions.
“Everybody’s seen the clips,” he told reporters last month. “It’s not a valid medical diagnosis for people to say that’s dehydration.”
