One other GOP member of Congress has had what seems to be a well being scare, with septuagenarian Senator John Kennedy freezing throughout a Fox Enterprise interview on Tuesday.
Throughout an interview with host Larry Kudlow, 77, concerning the Trump administration’s crackdown on sanctuary cities, Kennedy began to make some extent about how Jesus loves immigrants earlier than trailing off right into a seven-second silence.
“Jesus loves them, however everyone else thinks,” Kennedy mentioned earlier than murmuring a pair extra phrases after which freezing on digicam.
U.S. Senator John Kennedy appeared to freeze throughout an interview with Fox Enterprise / MANDEL NGAN / AFP through Getty Photographs
Kennedy gave the impression to be unable to kind phrases, and he remained on display for 5 extra seconds in silence earlier than Kudlow reduce in and chalked up the awkward hole to a technical situation.
“I assume we had some extra technical issues. That was the identical mic we misplaced with Senator Rand Paul,” Kudlow mentioned. Kennedy had not spoken any phrases after freezing up.
A spokesperson for Kennedy didn’t reply to a direct request for remark. Kennedy’s official account on X posted twice after the interview aired, as soon as to criticize Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and as soon as to congratulate a New Orleans Saints soccer participant on his retirement.
The sight of a gray-haired senator freezing throughout an interview is a well-known one for the GOP caucus.
In 2023, then-Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell suffered two comparable “freezing episodes” simply weeks other than one another.
Whereas observing neurologists initially suspected that McConnell might have suffered a transient ischemic assault — a sort of stroke — the Capitol doctor wrote in an announcement that the Kentuckian’s episodes confirmed “no proof” of a stroke or seizure dysfunction.
Satirically, Kennedy was one of many Senate Republicans who instantly dismissed solutions that McConnell step down as majority chief, saying that may happen solely “when donkeys fly.”
McConnell introduced earlier this yr that he wouldn’t search re-election in 2026.
Kennedy, who is thought within the Senate for his distinctive Southern drawl and acerbic commentary throughout hearings, has not commented on whether or not he’ll pursue re-election in 2028. He handed on operating for governor of Louisiana in 2023.
Well being issues have emerged as a significant level of pressure for each events over the previous yr, from scrutiny of Joe Biden’s cognition throughout his presidency to President Trump’s latest analysis of power venous insufficiency.
Kennedy doesn’t even crack the checklist of the ten oldest senators (the oldest, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, is 91).
