Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to move with some difficulty to a waiting van in a video clip posted online Thursday.
Pelosi, 84, recently fell and broke her hip during an overseas trip late last year while in Luxembourg with other members of Congress. The incident required hip replacement surgery and left her hospitalized at a U.S. military base in Germany for a period before returning home.
While her staff claimed then — and continues to claim — that she is recovering well, the video once again raised questions among a growing number of Americans concerned about the advanced age of their representatives and reignited talk of imposing term or age limits for all members of Congress.
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Pelosi’s video is going viral around the same time reports surfaced this week that former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fell again walking down a short flight of stairs leaving the Senate chamber on his way to lunch.
Some users online compared the deteriorating physical abilities of Pelosi and McConnell to that of the late Sen. Diane Feinstein, who literally remained in office until her dying day despite the fact that her mental capacity had deteriorated to a point where she was thought to be nearly incapacitated.
“Congress and the senate have become senior living facilities,” former Missouri Secretary of State candidate Valentina Gomez wrote on X.
“These elders just don’t have enough sense to know when to quit,” wrote another.
Earlier this week, McConnell was seen using a wheelchair after his reported fall, Express US reported.
“Fox confirms. McConnell falls down Senate stairs after voting to confirm Scott Turner as HUD Secretary. Unclear about injuries. But Fox is told he appears to be ok. McConnell was helped up by Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK),” Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram tweeted.
According to his office, McConnell, who had polio as a child, is currently using a wheelchair “purely as a precautionary measure.”
“Senator McConnell is fine,” a McConnell spokesman said. “The lingering effects of polio in his left leg will not disrupt his regular schedule of work.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told reporters after witnessing the fall: “I think he just slipped on the steps. I was right behind him and helped him get back up, and he walked on his own power to lunch.”
McConnell was seen leaving the lunch on foot, holding onto an aide’s arm. However, he was later spotted by the press returning to the venue in a wheelchair.
McConnell stepped down as Senate Republican leader earlier this year after experiencing multiple health issues. In December, he also suffered a fall in the Capitol building following a lunch with his colleagues, resulting in a minor face cut and a wrist sprain.
Last year, McConnell revealed that he’s “not leaving the Senate” and that he’s focused on combating the Republican Party’s “isolationist movement,” which some viewed as a shot at President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming team.
During an interview with WHAS radio host Terry Meiners, McConnell vowed to use his remaining time in the Senate to hit back against GOP colleagues who aim to rein in U.S. support for foreign allies such as Israel and Ukraine.
Despite his plans to step down as party leader, McConnell said, “I’m not leaving the Senate.” He added, “I’m particularly involved in actually fighting back against the isolationist movement in my own party and so many others as well.”
