What the hell is going on with Mitch McConnell???

Answers needed.

On Wednesday on Capitol Hill, this happened:

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell just stopped speaking and, for 30 or so seconds, continued in silence until he was ushered away by his fellow Senators — seeming confused.

McConnell later said that he got “sandbagged” — a reference to President Joe Biden tripping over a sandbag at a speech at the Air Force Academy last week. (He said that in a conversation with Biden, who was calling to check on him.)

His aides later explained that he was “lightheaded.”

In the ensuing hubbub, it was revealed that McConnell has fallen three times this year — one that we knew about (it caused a concussion and kept him out of work for weeks) and two we didn’t know about (and were more minor).

A little context here. McConnell is:

1. The most powerful Republican Senator in the country

2. 81 years old.

Those two facts, you would think, might occasion further explanation from his office about just what happened.

Again, the man froze in mid sentence, said nothing for 30 seconds and then had to be led away.

That he came back later in the day and seemed fine is good news! But it doesn’t change what happened!

Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Dr. Sanjay Gupta had to say about the McConnell episode:

He seemed to have recovered from it, but something clearly happened. It could be something more simple: dehydration, a little infection, medication interaction, but I think given his history, that fall back in March, his age, you’ve got to make sure you’re also addressing and ruling out other things. A mini stroke, a mini seizure, things like that. A mini seizure could have been related even to that fall that he had back in March, so, again, common things common, but you’ve got to rule out the bad things as well…

…I really think he needs to be seen. I mean, you know, one thing about things like a TIA, which is a transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini stroke, is that untreated it could lead to more mini strokes and even lead to a more significant stroke. The key is to actually get that checked out in time. If there’s one thing that people know about strokes, it’s that time is really important. Again, this is speculative, but he clearly had some sort of neurological event there. I think, again, that video is something that his doctors would probably be examining as well.

Yeah, to all of that.

My broader point here is that SOMETHING happened to McConnell on Wednesday. Something more than we know. And his office needs to explain further.

I have felt light-headed many times in my life but it has never caused me to do what he did — a total, extended freeze.

And I am not 81 years old with a recent history of falls and a concussion! Nor am I one of the most powerful politicians in the country (yet!).

Politicians — of both parties — are loathe to discuss their medical conditions. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, has struggled for months but her office has been extremely guarded with details about her condition.¹

So, this is not a partisan view. When Feinstein was clearly struggling, I repeatedly wrote that she needed to resign her office as it had become clear that she could no longer carry out the duties required of her.

I’m not there yet on McConnell. But, man, we need to know a WHOLE lot more about what happened to him on Wednesday than we do currently.

Trying to joke it away won’t work. Or dismissing it as a nothing burger. SOMETHING happened to McConnell. Something more than being “lightheaded.” And we need to know what.

1. On Thursday, Feinstein appeared confused in a committee meeting. She tried to give a speech but was repeatedly urged to just cast an affirmative vote by Washington State Sen. Patty Murray.