Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longtime Republican leader who suffered a serious head injury in a fall earlier this year, experienced another alarming freeze-up at a news conference on Wednesday in Covington, Ky., the second such episode caught on camera in recent weeks.
Mr. McConnell, 81, was taking questions from reporters after an event hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce when he was asked for his thoughts on running for re-election in 2026.
Mr. McConnell, who appeared thinner and frailer than he has in recent months, began to answer the question with a slight chuckle when he abruptly stopped speaking, standing motionless behind a lectern with his mouth pursed and his eyes wide.
When an aide approached to ask if he had heard the question, he mumbled “yes,” but he seemed unable to continue speaking or to move.
It was the second such incident in two months, and the scene intensified questions about Mr. McConnell’s future in the Senate.
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