Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, is helped to leave after freezing cold at a press conference. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
As if the phrase «deer stuck in headlights» was coined to describe that very moment.
Looking straight ahead, glazed eyes and pursed lips, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, 81. , paused for an excruciatingly awkward 21 seconds during Wednesday's press conference.
It took a gentle grip from fellow Senator John Barrasso, who managed to break through Mr. McConnell's absent daze by asking him, «Are you all right, Mitch? before the aides took him away.
Returning 12 minutes later, Mr McConnell stated that he was «all right» and his brief gaffe had nothing to do with the serious fall he suffered in March .
< p>The longest-serving Senate leader in US history also confirmed he would run in the 2024 election, but did not comment on whether he would run again in 2025.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, appeared to be confused during her speech. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Dianna Feinstein also helped spark a heated debate about the aging of US politicians this week. , who is 90 years old and is the oldest sitting senator.
On Thursday, she seemed confused while delivering a speech during a committee vote. Senator Patty Murray had to interrupt her and ask the MP to «just say yes.»
Ms. Feinstein has been haunted for years by allegations that she is not doing her job, and colleagues have told reporters that she forgets her panties.
When she returned to work after two and a half months away, for shingles, she told reporters that she had been there all along, voting. Ms. Feinstein recently announced that she will retire at the end of 2024 after three decades in the Senate and more than 50 years in public service.
Meanwhile, 80-year-old Joe Biden, the nation's oldest president, has never been wrong and has even begun using shorter steps to board Air Force One after a string of frustrating stumbles while boarding the presidential plane.
He, likely to take on Donald Trump in the 2024 election, who will also be over 80 at the end of a possible second term.
1304 Biden is the oldest person to ever be a US president.
Kevin Munger, assistant professor of political science and social data analysis at Pennsylvania State University, described Mr. McConnell's «dramatic» outburst as «a symptom of the larger problem of the fact that the US has the oldest legislature in the world and the oldest legislature in its history. right now.
“The American electoral system has allowed the baby boomers to kind of exacerbate their basic demographic advantage,” he told The Telegraph. .
With an average age of 63.9 years, it is the second oldest Senate since 1789 and the third oldest House of Representatives (57.5 years).
Last year, 89-year-old Senator Chuck Grassley was elected to another term. He will serve until he is 95.
When the Iowa Republican was asked if age was a concern, he said, «I'm a rising 90-year-old man,» adding, «Age is just a number.» .
A huge gap between legislators and their electorate
Aging legislators continue to show a huge gulf between their life experience and that of the constituency they serve.
During a TikTok hearing in March, at least three representatives named the video-sharing app «TicTac.» mint.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, 72, pulled out a flip phone during a Senate floor speech last year and said he was «not very tech-savvy.»
< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/dbcc99ba09555ea52214c346c1c6fdf1.jpg" />Chuck Schumer, 72, with his flip phone
While running for the 2024 presidential candidate earlier this year, candidate Nikki Haley said American politicians are «past» their heyday. She called for «mandatory intelligence tests» for politicians aged 75 and over.
Christopher Galdieri, professor of political science at St. Anselm's College, said that while older people in good health can run a country, how do you distinguish them when they are not there, and who decides?
He told The Telegraph: «Who can tell someone who's been the Senate Majority Leader, someone who's been, you know, this trailblazing California female candidate all these years, that it's time to go?»
Reform can't happen without their vote
But no matter the logistics, there's nothing that can be done to reform the political system without these same legislators voting for change.
“We are at a point with American democratic institutions where many things seem pointless, there is simply no prospect of reforming them,” Mr. Munger said.
“This is the world's oldest constitution. And this is the merit of the founders. But it also means that it is the oldest constitution in the world and therefore the most outdated.” electing some younger politicians, it could be 10 years before the age of American legislators begins to decline.
Responding to a question about what makes these people keep running for re-election, Professor Galdieri said: “People come to see themselves as irreplaceable … which is very rare.
«When you get into, you know, people in their 80s running for six years, that's when you get into the realm of you just really, really hard roll the dice, to stay healthy for quite a long time.
“Right now we have a lot of old people running the government, but let me put it this way: this is a problem that could solve itself,” he added< /p>
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