WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tripped and fell while disembarking from a plane at Reagan National Airport earlier this month, according to two sources familiar with the incident.
McConnell, 81, was not seriously hurt, and was seen at the Capitol later that day, where he interacted with at least one reporter.
The July 14 fall, which has not been previously reported, occurred after the flight out of Washington was canceled while everyone was on board. McConnell, R-Ky., who was a passenger on the plane, had a “face plant,” someone who was on the plane at the time but did not witness the fall told NBC News. That passenger also said they spoke to another passenger who helped tend to McConnell after the fall.
The Senate’s top Republican has also recently been using a wheelchair as a precautionary measure when navigating crowded airports, according to a source familiar with his practices.
A polio survivor who has long struggled to navigate stairs and other obstacles, McConnell has a difficult recent history with falls. He suffered a concussion and cracked rib in a fall in Washington earlier this year, and spent six weeks away from the Senate. He fractured his shoulder in a fall in Kentucky in 2019, requiring surgery.
McConnell’s nearly 20-second freeze during a news conference Wednesday renewed concerns about his overall health following the concussion.
“He’s definitely slower, with his gait,” said a Republican senator who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. In closed-door GOP meetings, “he doesn’t address it,” the senator said, referring to health issues.
McConnell’s office on Wednesday night declined to comment for this article.
Scott Wong contributed.
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