Speculation is growing about the political future of Mitch McConnell.
The GOP establishment wants him to keep his grip on power.
And Rand Paul uttered four words about Mitch McConnell that left the establishment fuming.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had his second freezing incident of the summer during a press conference.
The 81-year-old senator was asked about running for reelection in 2026, when he began to answer he stared off into space for 20 seconds before he was escorted away.
McConnell had a similar freezing incident two months earlier.
Questions about the longtime GOP leader’s health have been growing after he suffered a concussion from a fall in March.
Dr. Brian Monahan, the Attending Physician of Congress, cleared McConnell to continue with his work schedule after consultations with him and his medical team.
“Occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and can also be expected as a result of dehydration,” Monahan wrote in a letter.
Not everyone is buying the medical explanation given by Monahan, including Kentucky’s other senator.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was an eye doctor before he was elected to the Senate in 2010.
He slammed Monahan’s explanation of McConnell’s medical issues as “not a valid medical diagnosis.”
“I don’t think it’s been particularly helpful to have the Senate doctor describing it as dehydration, which I think even a non-physician seeing that probably aren’t really accepting that explanation,” Paul told reporters.
“Everybody’s seen the clips, it’s not a valid medical diagnosis for people to say that’s dehydration,” Paul added.
He added that freezing appeared to be a neurological event based on his experience as a doctor.
“I’ve practiced medicine for 25 years, and it doesn’t look like dehydration to me,” Paul said. “It looks like a focal neurologic event.”
Paul wasn’t the only conservative Senator to express concern about McConnell’s health.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who voted against McConnell as Minority Leader last year, said that the same concerns that exist for President Joe Biden are valid for the Kentucky lawmaker.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Hawley said. “You can’t say that you’re concerned about Joe Biden but you’re not concerned about Mitch McConnell. It’s either one or the other.”
He added that his constituents in Missouri have expressed concerns to him about McConnell’s health.
“It’s on people’s minds, clearly,” Hawley said.
Hawley said that he hopes the best for McConnell but worries that his health could make it hard to criticize Biden for his age in the 2024 Election.
“If you’re concerned about the President, then you’ve got to be concerned about other people in leadership,” Hawley explained. “It’s a two-way street.”
McConnell brushed off any concerns about his health and vowed that he would finish his term as the Senate’s GOP leader.
“I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going finish my Senate term,” McConnell vowed.
Mitch McConnell’s health and political future is going to be one of the biggest questions lingering for Senate Republicans.
