Is McConnell qualified to remain in office?

despite of Congress doctor says he can continue working And his allies underestimate the incident, the last moment of “paralysis” of the Republican minority leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell does Discusses the. He lasted 30 seconds on Wednesday, while reporters asked him if he planned to run again in 2026.

“If I think what?”
“Operating again in 2026.”

He continued to stare straight ahead, his lips pursed and his hands gripping the podium. One of the assistants approached: “Did you hear the question, Senator? Stand up again in 2026L.” “We need a minute,” she apologized. Then he seemed to recover and briefly answered a few questions.

era It actually happened in July That McConnell would freeze mid-sentence in front of the media. After a fall in March, he ended up in the hospital with a concussion, with consequences also for hearing. In 2019, he fell and broke his shoulder. In 2020, a journalist noticed bruises on his hands. Now an accurate diagnosis is not known, His staff only said that his head was spinning. “It’s not unusual after a concussion, and it can also be a result of dehydration,” congressional physician Brian Monahan concluded after speaking to McConnell and his team of neurologists. (He did not say he visited her). According to him, “he is medically fit to continue his program.”

Mitch McConnell – cruelly nicknamed “Glitch McConnell” by Reddit users – He had said in the past that he intended to remain in office until the end of his term As a Kentucky state senator in early 2027 and for the remainder of the leader’s current two-year term. He is not the oldest in the Senate, as the average age is 65 years. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, is 90. She has been away for two months with shingles and often looks disoriented, but she wants to stay until 2024.

McConnell is the Republican minority leader, a delicate and difficult task. Will he be able to continue doing this? Conservative magazine National review He writes that his career was “legendary” (16 years of leadership, a historic record, set last year) but it’s time to put an end to it. And There are those who argue that there should be a maximum age for congressional membership; But those who should decide this are its members themselves, and they are unlikely to do so.

Although none of their colleagues have formally asked for McConnell’s replacement, talking about it is no longer taboo: The main candidates are the Three Jun., his most trusted men for decisive votes and to spread the party’s message. These are senators John Thune From South Dakota, his number two, 62, is considered the favorite; and 71 years old John Cornyn From Texas (willing to cooperate with Democrats on issues like gun control) and John Barrassoan orthopedic surgeon from Wyoming (the most conservative of the three, who voted against Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill).

Like McConnell Thune strongly criticized Trump For trying to subvert the outcome of the vote in 2020 — Donald calls him “Mitch Boy,” and threatened to spoil him in the primaries but failed — Cornyn has also expressed his desire for a different Republican nominee for the White House in 2024. However, Barrasso has maintained a good relationship with the president the previous.

All of this is happening during the race for the White House, which also raises concerns Biden, who insisted he found Mitch a natural on the phone“Always the person.” Despite their political rivalry, they became friends in the Senate. They are also their peers, according to a survey AP In August, 77% of voters said the 80-year-old Biden was too old to run again. In 2020, voters embraced the idea that his age and experience were a guarantee of stability, and now they seem to see in every misstep and every metaphorical or real stumble (in June on a bag of sand) as confirmation of his fragility.