{"id":2018988,"date":"2023-09-01T04:22:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T08:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-health-scares-reinforce-age-issue-in-2024-campaign\/"},"modified":"2023-09-01T04:23:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T08:23:49","slug":"mcconnell-health-scares-reinforce-age-issue-in-2024-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-health-scares-reinforce-age-issue-in-2024-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"McConnell&#8217;s health scares highlight age concern in 2024 race."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmcconnell-health-scares-reinforce-age-issue-in-2024-campaign%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2018988&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell&#8217;s Health Scare Sparks Debate on Aging Lawmakers<\/h2>\n<p>Senate Minority Leader\u200c Mitch McConnell&#8217;s second health scare this summer has reignited national conversations on aging lawmakers and their capacity to govern, with a particular focus on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ron-desantis-meets-with-key-donors-after-re-election-blowout-as-2024-speculation-swirls\/\" title=\"Ron DeSantis Meets With Key Donors After Re-Election Blowout As 2024 Speculation Swirls\">upcoming 2024 presidential race<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During a press conference on Wednesday, McConnell \u2062struggled to respond to questions before freezing for \u200dapproximately 30 seconds. This incident \u200bcomes less than two months after he froze during another press conference on Capitol Hill \u200din late July. While some allies of McConnell, like Rep. Jim Banks\u2063 (R-IN), have tried to assure \u200bthe public \u200dof his good health, others are already calling for him to step down.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;He really should contemplate either stepping down as leader, announcing he&#8217;s going to retire at the end of this term, and maybe go to a\u2063 reduced role in the Senate,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Newsmax<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has called for federal oversight, mentioning McConnell, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and \u2064Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), all of whom have faced health\u2064 issues while \u2063in office. The 90-year-old Feinstein has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-justice-stephen-breyer-to-retire-from-scotus-giving-biden-a-court-pick\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Justice Stephen Breyer To Retire From SCOTUS, Giving Biden A Court Pick\">faced multiple calls<\/a> from members of her party to step down.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Severe aging health issues and\/or mental health incompetence in our nation\u2019s leaders MUST be addressed. Biden, McConnell, Feinstein,\u200d and Fetterman are examples of\u2064 people who are not fit for office and it\u2019s time to be serious about it,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Greene wrote<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are talking about our country\u2019s national security and it\u2019s all at stake! 25th amendment and other measures need to be on the table.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>McConnell&#8217;s health issues could have implications beyond the question of \u200cwho will succeed him as Senate Minority Leader in the GOP\u200d if he decides to retire.<\/p>\n<p>Both former President Donald\u200b Trump and\u200b President\u200b Joe Biden, the \u2062leading frontrunners for the Republican and Democratic Party respectively, have faced scrutiny over their age\u2063 and ability to lead the United States as chief executive.<\/p>\n<p>Biden, at 80, is the oldest sitting U.S. \u200cpresident in history, which is a major concern\u2063 for voters as he seeks\u200c reelection. An Associated Press-NORC poll released on Monday showed that \u206477% of those surveyed believed Biden was too old to\u2062 be an effective\u2063 president for another four\u2063 years. This sentiment was shared by nearly 90% of Republicans and \u200d69% of Democrats, a \u2064significant statistic from within Biden&#8217;s own party.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding 77-year-old Trump,\u200b 51% of participants said he was too\u2064 old \u200bto serve another four-year \u2064term. Among Democrats, 71% agreed, while only 28% of Republicans shared the same view.<\/p>\n<p>White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended \u200dBiden&#8217;s age in an interview with CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper, emphasizing his wisdom and experience.\u2064 However, Republicans \u200cremain unsatisfied with the administration&#8217;s \u200drebuttals.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;This \u2062is not like\u2064 Joe Biden, who had sort of a cognitive decline over a period\u200b of years\u200d which continues,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Former \u200cRepublican\u2063 presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Newsmax<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was\u2064 an acute incident that has caused the problem he has.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Republican presidential candidate\u200c Nikki Haley has repeatedly called for a \u200bnew generation of GOP leadership and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nikki-haley-holds-first-campaign-event\/\" title=\"Nikki Haley Holds First Campaign Event\">mental competency tests<\/a> for lawmakers over the age of\u200b 75, taking aim at both Trump and Biden.<\/p>\n<p>As the 2024 race intensifies, McConnell&#8217;s health will undoubtedly face further scrutiny, potentially impacting the presidential\u200b race itself.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;The health question\u2063 with respect to McConnell,\u2062 especially if it persists as is likely, will almost certainly have an \u2063impact on the presidential race,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Bob Evans, associate professor of political science \u2062at Rockford\u200b University<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;McConnell\u2019s health will bring more scrutiny to the question of Biden\u2019s health. Questions are, of course, already being raised. The age and\u2064 infirmity questions about Biden \u2062would seem to be\u200c unavoidably \u2064analogous to the questions that the presence of McConnell will raise or present. Republicans can be relied upon to\u200c deflect any McConnell questions \u2064toward Biden. &#8216;Whataboutism&#8217; is a disease of epic proportions in D.C.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Evans also suggested that Democrats could use McConnell&#8217;s health to their advantage,\u200c linking\u2062 him and Trump\u2064 as out-of-touch, aging leaders of a generally out-of-touch, aging party.<\/p>\n<p>Joseph Vargas, a veteran Texas GOP consultant, pointed out the media&#8217;s selective coverage of Trump and Biden&#8217;s cognitive abilities, suggesting that age may become less of a focus if \u200dthey become the presidential nominees next year.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;So, due to the fact that a majority of media favor Democrat candidates; if Biden and Trump are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-health-scares-reinforce-age-issue-in-2024-campaign\/\" title=\"McConnell's health scares highlight age concern in 2024 race.\">respective presidential\u2064 nominees<\/a> to their parties, the media will most likely not \u200bmention age as it will expose the older age\u200c of their preferred Democrat candidate,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Vargas said<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, Evans believes \u200cthat the question of age will persist and may \u200ceven reignite the debate over term limits\u200b for members of Congress.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;The McConnell issue may \u200cwell reignite the debate over term limits for members of Congress. That debate ebbs and\u2063 flows, but we \u2063occasionally get close to real action. This issue could act as a real catalyst,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Evans said<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Look at public opinion polls. They reveal ever deeper disaffection with\u200b government. A \u200ccommon complaint is over the age and &#8216;disconnectedness&#8217; of politicians. Unfortunately, McConnell could be\u2062 seen as the poster boy for\u2062 this sentiment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We \u2063may well be\u200b at the point that something dramatic could occur,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; He added<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is difficult to \u2063remain indifferent to public opinion\u200d as it is currently being expressed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">Click here<\/a> to read more from\u200c The Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell&#8217;s (R-KY) recent health scare has reignited discussions on the ability of aging lawmakers to govern. The incident, caught on camera, has brought attention to the upcoming 2024 presidential race. McConnell faced difficulty answering questions at a press conference, freezing for about 30 seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2018989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2018988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2018988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2018989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2018988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2018988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2018988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}