The scene surprised everyone. While conducting a press conference at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, July 26, the leader of the Republicans in the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, fell silent in the middle of a sentence, and seemed paralyzed for about twenty seconds, staring into space, before his entourage reacts and invites him to slip away.

After spending a few minutes in his office, the 81-year-old Kentucky state representative returned to reporters. He assured that he felt good and resumed his exchange with the press, saying that he was still able to do his job. One of his aides, who requested anonymity, said Mr McConnell had experienced a dizzy spell.

In March, the senator was hospitalized after a fall during a private dinner, which left him with a concussion, a broken rib and nearly six weeks out. Four years ago, he tripped and fell at his Kentucky home, causing a broken shoulder that required surgery.

And call Joe Biden

Grand Old Party senators showed their support for Mr. McConnell after Wednesday’s episode. Wyoming Representative John Barrasso, the party’s number three in the Senate, who accompanied the Republican leader to his office after the incident, said the latter had made a “remarkable recovery” from his injury in the current of the year.

Texas lawmaker John Cornyn, who is also considered a potential candidate to succeed Mitch McConnell, told reporters, “I support Senator McConnell as long as he wants to serve as leader. »

Later, as he emerged from his office, Mitch McConnell again told reporters that he was fine and had spoken with US President Joe Biden.

“The president called to check on me, and I told him I ‘got bogged down,'” the senator joked, referring to an American pun Joe Biden had made himself in June after tripping over a sandbag and falling on stage at a public event.

Mitch McConnell, undisputed leader of the Republicans in the Senate since 2015, found himself in this capacity on the front line of the fight against the policies of the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017), but also to support Donald Trump, who arrived in power in January 2017.

The Republican leader is one of many senators who have been absent due to health issues this year. California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, was notably absent from the Senate for more than two months after suffering from a bout of shingles.