Once the Republican Party’s leadership in the Senate was last truly questionable, it has been several years.
However, Senator Mitch McConnell’s unexpected stop during a press conference on Wednesday at the Capitol, along with fresh information regarding other recent collapses, have alarmed his colleagues and sparked a quiet debate among them regarding the duration that he can remain the minority leader and the possibility that there will be an adjustment at the top.
The long-serving Republican lawmaker from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, had been diminished both physically and politically for weeks when he appeared to experience a medical episode on television on Wednesday as he spoke to the press.
In the most recent occurrence, Mr. McConnell, 81, froze mid-remark, incapable to carry on speaking, and seemed confused with his lips shut while his assistants and coworkers gently took him away.