Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, is helped to leave after freezing cold at a press conference. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
However, just a few weeks later, the senator appeared to freeze for the second time during a similar incident when he was again asked if he would run for re-election.
Wednesday, the senator paused and looked at him intently before being asked, «Did you hear the question, senator?» The aides then approached Mr. McConnell and said, «We'll need a minute.»
He finally answered another question briefly, after about 30 seconds of silence.
His office later said that Mr. McConnell felt «momentarily dizzy» and would see a doctor before his next event.
The incident resurfaced concerns about the senator's health and sparked controversy about his ability to hold office.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, appeared to be confused during her speech. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Also helping to revive the heated debate about aging American politicians is Dianne Feinstein, who at 90 is the oldest sitting senator.
On Thursday, she appeared to be at a loss as she delivered a speech during a committee vote. Senator Patty Murray had to interrupt her and ask the legislator to «just say yes.»
Ms. Feinstein has been hounded for years by allegations that she is not up to the job, and her colleagues tell reporters that she forgets briefs.
“When she returned to work after two and a half months away due to herpes zoster, she told reporters that she had been there the whole time 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 office.
Meanwhile, 80-year-old Joe Biden, the nation's oldest ever president, is never far from a gaffe and even began using shorter steps to board Air Force One after a series of awkward stumbles while boarding the presidential plane.
He will likely face Donald Trump in the 2024 election, who will also be in his 80s by the end of a possible second term.
1304 Biden is the oldest person to ever serve as President of the United States
Kevin Munger, assistant professor of political science and social data analysis at Pennsylvania State University, called McConnell's «dramatic» error «a symptom of the larger problem of the fact that the US now has the oldest legislature in the world and the oldest legislature in its history.
«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, it is the second oldest Senate since 1789 and the third oldest House representatives with 57.5 years.
Senator Chuck Grassley, 89, was re-elected last year. He will serve until age 95.
When the Iowa Republican was asked if age was a concern, he replied, «I'm a rising 90-year-old,» adding, «Age is just too much.»
p>Great gulf between legislators and their constituents
Aging legislators continue to show a huge gulf between their life experience and that of the constituents they serve.
During a TikTok hearing in March, at least three representatives called the video-sharing app «TicTac» a typical mint.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, 72, pulled out a cot during a Senate speech last year and said he was «not very tech oriented.»
< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/154917f0d191a5099c555cb4cb2070f2.jpg" />Chuck Schumer, 72, and his flip phone
In her 2024 nomination 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. manage them? do you distinguish when they are not, 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 pioneering California female candidate for all these years, that it's time to go?» p>Reform cannot happen without their vote
But regardless of the logistics, it is impossible to do anything to reform the political system without these same legislators voting for changes.
“We are at the point where American democratic institutions do not seem to make much sense, there is simply no prospect of reforming them,” Mr. Munger said.
“This is the oldest constitution in the world. And this is the merit of the founders. But that also means it's the oldest constitution in the world and therefore the most outdated.»
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Mr. Munger added that if young people can't «really coordinate on this and work on electing some younger politicians, it could be 10 years before we see the age of American legislators come down.
When asked what makes these people keep running for re-election, Professor Galdieri replied: «People come to see themselves as irreplaceable…which is very rare.
«When you get into people in their 80s running for six years, that's when you get into the realm of what you really just throwing the dice to stay healthy for quite a long time.
“We have a lot of older people running the government now, but let me put it this way: this is a problem that can resolve itself naturally way,” he added
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