Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell collapsed at the Senate Republican luncheon on Tuesday.
It was not initially clear if McConnell, 82, was injured or the severity of the fall. Two medical responders were seen entering his office and then left.
A short time later, McConnell’s office said he suffered a “small cut” on his face and a “twisted wrist.”
“Chief McConnell tripped after lunch. He suffered a small cut on his face and sprained his wrist. He has been cleared to resume his schedule,” his spokesman said.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell leaves his office with a brace on his left wrist and a bandage on his cheek following a fall in the early morning hours of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 10, 2024. He carried a key in his left hand. hand and had a visible bandage under his left eye.
Allison Pecorin/ABC News
Newly elected Senate Republican leader John Thune, who will take over from McConnell in January, was asked about McConnell’s downfall at a Republican post-lunch press conference.
“Okay, he’s in his office,” Thune said, deferring further questions to McConnell’s staff.
McConnell, who limped after overcoming polio as a youth, has had previous falls.
A fall in a Washington hotel in March 2023 caused a prolonged absence from the Senate. McConnell suffered a concussion and a broken rib as a result of the incident, requiring hospitalization and outpatient rehabilitation that forced him to miss six weeks on Capitol Hill.
McConnell also raised concerns last year after two episodes in which he appeared frozen in front of television cameras, although he was later cleared to work by the Capitol doctor.
The longtime Kentucky senator announced in February that he would step down from his two-decade leadership role.
Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leaves the Senate floor after collapsing during a GOP luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on December 10, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
McConnell left his office Tuesday afternoon to vote on the Senate floor.
McConnell carried a wrench in his left hand and had a visible bandage under his left eye.
“Good,” he said when asked by ABC News how he was feeling.
