McConnell’s spokesman, Doug Andres, said late on the 9th that McConnell was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The Washington, D.C. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services confirmed the news to the Daily Mail.
“Tonight, leader Mitch McConnell tripped during a private dinner at a local hotel. He has been taken to hospital for treatment,” Andrés said.
McConnell’s office did not provide further details about his condition, or how long he might be absent from the Senate. However, there were reports that McConnell suffered a concussion and remains in the hospital and has not been released.
Trump: Disagree with ‘everything he does’ but wish him ‘all well’
McConnell, the 81-year-old Republican leader of the U.S. Senate, fell at the “Waldorf Astoria Hotel,” which was converted from a property purchased by the Trump company.
“Everything is fine,” Trump said of McConnell during a discussion with the press about his forthcoming book, “Letters to Trump.”
The former US president acknowledged that the two no longer hit it off, but that would not diminish his blessing for McConnell.
“I disagree with almost everything he (McConnell) does, but I certainly hope he does things, and I hope he’s well. I hope he gets well and then comes back strong,” Trump said.
Trump added: “It sounds like he took a big fall and I hope he gets better soon.”
During Trump’s presidency, the two had a relatively close relationship. But after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the two have huge differences on the issue of election integrity, especially after the riots in the U.S. Capitol that broke out on January 6, 2021.
On February 13, 2021, the U.S. Senate ruled that the second impeachment charge against Trump due to the riots in the Capitol was not established, and Trump was acquitted. Afterwards, McConnell still made public comments, saying that Trump was responsible for the “criminal” sense of the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6. That’s pretty much in line with the caliber of Democrats who initiated and endorsed impeachment charges. Trump has strongly criticized McConnell, and the relationship between the two has dropped to a freezing point.
Zhao Xiaolan’s family is inextricably linked to Beijing
McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, is also a celebrity in American politics and served as transportation secretary during the Trump administration. According to writer Peter Schweizer, her family has extensive economic ties with the Chinese Communist regime.
The most notable thing about Zhao Xiaolan’s background is that her father was a classmate of the former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin. Because of this relationship, the family has benefited greatly from dealings with companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. In December 2020, Zhao Xiaolan was charged by the internal regulatory agency of the US Department of Transportation for allegedly violating “government ethics”. This led to a criminal investigation notice issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Chao, 69, began her career in Washington in 1988, serving as a member of the Federal Maritime Commission under the Reagan administration. In 2017, she was appointed Secretary of Transportation by former President Trump. After January 6, 2021, Chao Xiaolan quickly resigned to Trump, implying that Trump was responsible for the riots and that she could no longer work under Trump.
Previously, Schweitzer positioned McConnell’s political stance on the CCP as “increasingly weak” and believed that this had something to do with his wife Chao Xiaolan.
