WASHINGTON — Sen.Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican's health.McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was "briefly unconscious" around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of tests to try and determine what led to his fall.
He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation facility."My doctors have confirmed that I didn't break any bones or suffer a concussion.I didn't have a heart attack or a stroke.
I don't have any tumors or hemorrhages," McConnell said, adding that he is now "regaining my strength."McConnell's statement came on the heels of the unexpected death of his fellow Republican Sen.Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
McConnell said he cannot return to the Senate "quite yet."Coupled with Graham's passing, that will temporarily whittle the GOP majority in that chamber down by two, to 51-47, as Republicans try to increase military funding, advance President Donald Trump's agenda and confirm Trump's nominees.McConnell explained the four-week silence about his condition by saying that "folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older.""Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can't help it," he said.McConnell said he will continue to work with his staff on Senate business.His statement included a smiling picture of the senator with his wife Elaine Chao, a tacit response to speculation online that McConnell had died or was incapacitated.McConnell had provided little information since his hospitalization on June 14, his office insisting only that he was "receiving excellent care" and recovering.
Speculation about his condition grew so intense that Kentucky's Democratic Gov.Andy Beshear took the extraordinary step last week of issuing a public letter asking McCon...