Senator Mitch McConnell, 84, rushed to the hospital

By VICTORIA CHURCHILL, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 18:58, 14 June 2026 | Updated: 19:29, 14 June 2026 Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, 84, has been taken to the hospital. 'Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care,' his spokesperson noted on Sunday. McConnell, who is not running for another term in the US Senate in this year's midterm elections, has been plagued by health concerns in his last term in Washington. A fall last February left him reliant on a wheelchair and an aide to navigate the Capitol hallways, and he suffered a further fall in December 2024, spraining his wrist. He has also endured several on-camera 'freezing' episodes, most notably in August 2023, when he stood motionless for 30 seconds after being asked whether he would seek re-election in Kentucky, just weeks after abruptly halting mid-sentence at a press conference. The then-81-year-old gave no response when pressed on his political future. He has since announced he will not run for re-election. The longest-serving GOP Senate leader, McConnell first entered the Senate in 1985. He has long drawn the ire of Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters following a years-long feud. His wife, Elaine Chao, served as Secretary of Transportation for most of Trump's first term, but resigned in the wake of the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Mitch McConell speaks in the US Senate chamber In 2024, McConnell announced he would step down as Republican leader, ending an era that stretched back to 2007, clearing the way for John Thune to take the helm. His retirement from the Senate opened up his Kentucky seat, and Congressman Andy Barr was selected during a May primary as the GOP nominee to succeed in November's midterm elections. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.