1151
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by deconstruct@lemm.ee to c/politics@lemmy.world

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after a speech in Covington, Kentucky.

The incident is similar to an episode McConnell experienced at the US Capitol late last month and is likely to raise additional questions about the fitness of the 81-year-old to lead the Senate Republican caucus.

Wednesday’s episode occurred when a reporter asked the Republican leader if he was planning to run for reelection in 2026. McConnell had to ask him to repeat the question several times, chuckled for a moment, and then paused.

Someone at his side then asked him, “Did you hear the question, senator, running for reelection in 2026?” McConnell did not respond.

Article includes video of the incident.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] flipht@kbin.social 31 points 11 months ago

Its either happening frequently and just happens to have been caught on camera twice, or it could instead be related to hearing well enough to understand.

My grandparents were like this. Even if they could hear you, a lot of times it seemed out of context to them because they missed some other important piece.

[-] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 50 points 11 months ago

The people handling him knew exactly what was going on there. This happens all the time, I'm guessing.

Source: youngest grandchild of a huge family.

[-] jordanlund@lemmy.one 36 points 11 months ago

You'd think if it were a hearing issue he would just say "Could you repeat the question?" and not stand there like a deer in headlights.

🦌💡💡

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 12 points 11 months ago

He did ask them to repeat the question, several times, before just standing there blankly.

[-] Spendrill@lemm.ee 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Schrödinger's McConnell: competent enough to lead the Republicans in Senate, not competent enough to answer questions about Trump under oath.

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 13 points 11 months ago

Yeah, that's not a hearing issue. I've seen people with hearing issues who zone out because they can't hear / follow the conversation. But, they're not at a podium at the time. When that happens they know they can just back out of the conversation and hang out until the conversation is over, or the meal is over, or whatever.

When you're at the podium you know you're the focus of attention and need to respond. You can't just stand there with a blank look. That looked more like a stroke or a seizure than a lack of hearing.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

Yeah idk if auditory processing goes with age but you can also have delays from that.

That said if this were that you’d think he’d get hearing aids after the last one

[-] SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago

Senators are among the most powerful politicians in the US, as well as on the planet, and they know it. They don’t stand there befuddled because they’re socially awkward. If they’re befuddled, it’s because they’re befuddled.

We are seeing the human version of the Mac’s spinning beach ball. I have a cat with the same problem. I would not nominate her for a seat in the Senate.

[-] cassetti@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago

Mitch has had a series of bad falls over the past year, this isn't just poor hearing. Something else is going on and this is elderly abuse keeping him in office

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66320588

this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2023
1151 points (98.2% liked)

politics

18586 readers
4382 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
  2. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  3. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  4. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
  5. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  6. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS