McConnell falls and scratches face after party luncheon

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fell and scratched his face after a party lunch on Tuesday but is “fine” after returning to his office, according to a senator who was with him when it happened.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate Republican and a doctor, said McConnell walked back to his office after the fall with no assistance and had “a small scratch.” Medical staff were seen taking a wheelchair into McConnell’s office just before a scheduled weekly news conference. McConnell, who is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year, did not attend.

Barrasso said he was walking out of the lunch with McConnell when he tripped and fell. He said he walked with the longtime leader back to his office afterward. He said McConnell was “100 percent” alert.

McConnell’s fall was the latest in a series of medical incidents in recent years. He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a downtown hotel. Once he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff came to his assistance.

McConnell, 83, has been in the Senate since 1984 and has been Republican leader since 2007. South Dakota Sen. John Thune will become Senate majority leader next year when Republicans retake the majority. Thune also told reporters McConnell was “fine.”