McConnell falls and sprains wrist after GOP luncheon, colleague says he is 'fine'

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber as Congress returns for the lame-duck session at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON -

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon on Tuesday, the latest in a series of medical incidents for him in recent years.

McConnell, who is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year, was walking out of his weekly party lunch with Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso when he tripped and fell, Barrasso said, before walking back to his office on his own. Medical personnel were seen heading into his office minutes later.

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The longtime Republican leader, 82, also has a cut on his face, his office said, but “has been cleared to resume his schedule.” He did not attend a scheduled news conference immediately after the luncheon.

Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate leader and a doctor, said McConnell was “fine” and “100 per cent” alert after he tripped and fell.

His fall came after he was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a downtown hotel. After he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences that summer, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff came to his assistance.

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in walking and climbing stairs. In addition to his 2023 fall, he also tripped and fell in 2019 at his home in Kentucky, causing a shoulder fracture that required surgery.

McConnell has been in the Senate since 1984 and has been Republican leader since 2007. South Dakota Sen. John Thune will become Senate majority leader next year when Republicans retake the majority.

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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.