Consider This from NPR - What Do Mitch McConnell's Silent Episodes Tell Us?

Episode Date: August 31, 2023

For the second time this summer the top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, abruptly went silent at a news conference. He was about to answer a question from a reporter when he suddenly froze up. He seemed unable to speak. An aide then stepped in, trying to keep things moving along.The senator's silences have raised concerns about his mental fitness – and larger questions about an aging Congress.NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Dr. Ann Murray, the Movement Disorders division chief at the Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute at West Virginia University.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University performs breakthrough research every year, making discoveries that improve human health, combat climate change, and move society forward. More at iu.edu forward. For the second time this summer, the top Republican in the U.S. Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, abruptly went silent at a news conference. What am I talking about? What? Running for reelection in 2026. At the conference on Wednesday, McConnell seemed unable to speak. An aide then stepped in. Did you hear the question, Senator? Running for re-election in 2026? Yes.

All right, I'm sorry, you all, we're going to need a minute. After remaining silent for about 30 seconds, McConnell eventually told his aides that he was fine, and he answered a couple more questions before he was led away. Well, I think the government's race is going to be very close. McConnell's office later said that he was feeling lightheaded and that he'll be seeing a doctor before his next event. This is the second time that this has happened publicly. Five weeks ago, McConnell had a similar episode on Capitol Hill

while answering reporter questions. The senator's silences have raised concerns about his mental fitness and have highlighted larger questions about an aging Congress. And they've also led to questions from some of McConnell's own constituents in Kentucky. Here's John Schindelbauer, who supports State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee for governor in Kentucky. I appreciate some of the things he's done in his career, but we need somebody new. So yeah, I'm ready for him to ride off in the sunset. And here's Gerald Morris,

who says he usually votes for Democrats. You know, after a while, you have to change tires on the car. After 40,000, they've been in there 40 years. So, you know, it's time for a change. McConnell's health scare puts a big focus on an ongoing dynamic of the current political moment. Recently, both Democrats and Republicans have been forced to confront health issues and other potential limitations in aging politicians. There have been repeated calls for California's Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who's 90, to step down. Health problems led to her missing dozens of votes this year. And President Biden is the oldest president ever at 80 years old. That is a fact that Republicans

are already focusing on as a primary attack on him going into next year's presidential election. That's despite the fact that the leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is 77. And while the average age in Congress dropped slightly this year, it is still one of the highest in modern history. Consider this. McConnell's extended moments of silence have led many to wonder if he's fit to continue in office. Coming up, we will hear from a neurologist about what questions they'd ask a patient who had experienced such episodes. I'm Scott Detrow. It's Thursday, August 31st.

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Search for Meet the Press and follow now. This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University performs breakthrough research every year. Search for Meet the, and climate action. It's Consider This from NPR. Twice now, in the span of five weeks, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican of Kentucky and the Senate Minority Leader, has experienced extended periods of silence in public. Dr. Anne Murray is Movement Disorders Division Chief at the Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute at West Virginia University. She spoke with my co-host, Mary Louise Kelly, to help us understand this. What is the range of things that could be going on here?

I think it's always important to not just emphasize one episode or one event in somebody's life, but also to put it in context. And I think to me, that was the most alarming piece that putting this in context of other recent events, where clearly Senator McConnell wasn't feeling like himself, is the most concerning thing. And it does raise significant concern for an underlying medical problem and potentially even an underlying neurologic problem. I mean, again, not wishing to venture in any way towards speculation, but I have seen people saying this could be anything from dehydration to a partial seizure, some kind of stroke, or all of those things on the table about somebody's medical condition having not done a thorough history and examination. But it is concerning. And I think my emphasis would be that anyone experiencing similar symptoms should absolutely seek medical care and have part of that medical care be, you know, with potential specialists if needed. McConnell is 81 years old. He missed nearly six weeks of work this past spring after a fall that caused a broken rib and a concussion. That concussion, is there any way to know if that's a factor here? Absolutely. I mean, meaning, again, clinically examining him, you could weigh that in. It's important to know that concussion can cause individuals that suffer from them to have foggy headedness and slower thought.

But moreover, in my mind, you know, I often teach my students that it's also putting the whole picture in context and saying, is there something underlying that's causing the fall to begin with that led to the concussion? And how do we connect all of those dots? But saying that concussion can play a role, absolutely. I want to note that Dr. Brian Monaghan, the attending physician at the U.S. Congress, said today he has consulted with Senator McConnell, also with his neurology team. He's cleared the senator to continue with his schedule as planned. Dr. Murray, does anything you have seen

reviewing videos of these incidents, anything you've seen raise questions in your mind about Senator McConnell's ability to do his job? No, not at all, Mary Louise. I mean, I think, again, it's really hard to make a snap judgment off of an episode. The thing that I would want to emphasize is to say that whether somebody has a medical problem, even a neurologic problem, doesn't actually mean they would be at concern of not being able to do their job. To me, it's not just about can he do his job? If he's cleared by medical experts to do his job, great. It's more about is he healthy? Is he well? Is he functioning as best as he possibly can? And that really is the emphasis of saying that he needs to seek out whatever medical

care he needs and get the right diagnosis. And so that ultimately he can truly have the best quality of life possible. And then with that, function at his highest capacity. Clearly, he's a high-functioning individual, and at no point does any medical problem really directly put that in jeopardy, especially if correctly diagnosed and managed. Dr. Anne Murray is a professor of neurology at West Virginia University. Dr. Murray, thanks for your time. Thank you so much, Mary Louise. It was wonderful. Now, public moments like what happened to Mitch McConnell Wednesday draw new attention to the reality that the median age of senators, 65, makes them much older on average than the people they represent. Kevin Munger teaches political science at Penn State University. He says ailing experienced the early part of their life cycle in a very

different time period to understand where young people are coming from. Americans generally are living and working longer, but Munger says young voters in particular are increasingly interested in electing people who look like them and share their world experiences. And yes, the new members elected in recent years are more diverse, but incumbents are a different story. Last year, 98% of them won re-election. They have huge advantages like access to donor bases, relationships, name ID, and the fact that partisan voters generally want to vote for their own party. When it comes down to it, if you're going to vote on someone, you'll be like, well, I would prefer a younger candidate, but if I have two old candidates, I'm going to vote for my party candidate. That's Jennifer Wallach, a professor

at Michigan State University. She and her research partner studied why older people are overrepresented in government, and they found that people talk about concerns with age in politics, that they say they want younger representation in surveys, but at the polls, older politicians keep winning. People are much more going to choose on candidate promises and party and ideology than age. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org.