According to breaking new reporting, Republican Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening, following a seemingly somewhat serious fall while at a Washington D.C. hotel.
McConnell’s office was quick to attempt to get ahead of the news, releasing a statement confirming the 81-year-old senator’s hospitalization, explaining that the Kentucky lawmaker and GOP Senate Minority Leader received appropriate treatment at a nearby hospital after suffering a fall during a private dinner at the hotel.
In a statement on the matter to NBC News, McConnell’s spokesman David Popp said, “This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment.”
Two of McConnell’s fellow senators in attendance at that event told NBC that Mitch tripped and fell after an event for the Senate Leadership Fund — a Republican super PAC aligned with Mitch McConnell and other GOP leadership — at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington D.C.
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Spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, Vito Maggiolo, released a statement this morning confirming that an “adult male” was transported from the Waldorf Astoria to a local hospital at 9:17 p.m. on Wednesday. Maggiolo confirmed that emergency services were dispatched to the luxury hotel following a 911 call regarding a fall at the establishment. The spokesman noted that “notes did not indicate patient condition.”
Maggiolo cited privacy issues under a federal law that prohibits the release of medical information as he declined to confirm the identity of the individual who fell at the Waldorf, or which local hospital that individual was transported to.
An additional US senator spoke with NBC this morning and said, “I can tell you that he’s going to be OK,” following an alleged conversation between the senator and McConnell’s family.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer touched on the incident from the Senate floor this morning, confirming that he personally called and spoke with McConnell’s staff:
My thoughts this morning are with my good friend Leader Mitch McConnell, who is recovering from in the hospital after an accident last night. This morning I offer a prayer of strength and healing for the leader and his family. I called the leader this morning and spoke briefly with his staff to extend my prayers and well wishes.”
Read the full report from NBC News here.
Featured image via screen capture
