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Octogenarian senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was wheeled back into the US Capitol building after spending 92 days recovering from a fall and pneumonia — an extraordinary absence during which he didn’t make a single public appearance via video or audio.
Videos of the frail lawmaker didn’t exactly instill confidence that he’s now ready to vote on matters of national importance, let alone withstand hours of testimony. One video shared by TMZ showed McConnell staring into the distance while being loaded into a vehicle, failing to react to shouting reporters trying to get his attention.
Netizens likened him to a “zombie,” accusing officials of “Weekend at Bernie’s-ing him.”
“It’s actually terrifying that Mitch McConnell gets to make decisions that affect all of us,” one rattled user argued.
Medical professionals were equally worried about his clearly fragile state.
“Unless he’s something different from the patients that I see day to day, he is in no position to be going onto the Senate floor, listening to hours of testimony, reading bills, and making executive decisions when he’s probably in pain,” vascular surgeon Anahita Dua told the Daily Beast, adding that he’s “probably unable to do the basic things like something as simple as he needs to go to the bathroom.”
“He should be rehabilitating at home with his family, eating properly, sleeping properly, and as de-stressed as possible,” she added, arguing that another tumble could prove disastrous — or even fatal.
McConnell’s obviously delicate health perfectly highlights the extremely advanced age of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. As of last year, the median age of voting members in the House of Representatives and Senate was over 57 years and over 64 years, respectively, according to the Pew Research Center.
Their average has been steadily climbing for decades now, leading to frequent calls for more oversight, age limits, and far greater transparency about the medical condition of representatives.
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