Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is being treated for a concussion and will remain in the hospital for a few days of observation and treatment, his office announced Thursday afternoon.
“Leader McConnell tripped at a dinner event Wednesday evening and has been admitted to the hospital and is being treated for a concussion. He is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days of observation and treatment,” his office announced Thursday, breaking hours of silence after revealing Wednesday evening that the GOP leader had tripped and injured himself at a local hotel.
“The Leader is grateful to the medical professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes,” McConnell’s office said.
McConnell suffered the fall at a Waldorf Astoria dinner event for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC closely affiliated with the leader that spent $290 million in the last election.
The Republican leader, who is 81, previously fractured his shoulder after tripping and falling at his Kentucky home in 2019.
He won election to a seventh term in 2020 and is next up for reelection in 2026.
McConnell’s top deputies were left largely in the dark about their leader’s condition on Thursday morning.
“We just really don’t know much at this point,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters.
Thune said he attended a pre-dinner reception for the Senate Leadership Fund but left the event before McConnell injured himself.
“Evidently this happened later in the evening, and I was at a different dinner by then,” he said.
“We have very limited information on it. I’m sure we’ll get more,” he added.