Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's temporary silence this week at a press conference is "very different" from what's going on with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the 90-year-old California Democrat who is the oldest senator, or even with President Joe Biden, neurosurgeon and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson said on Newsmax, Friday.
"He's been evaluated by the physicians and when he's not having these episodes, he stays normal, so that would be very different from somebody who's having traditional cognitive decline of aging," Carson said on Newsmax's "Newsline."
McConnell, 81, went silent for more than 30 seconds during the press conference Wednesday after a reporter asked him if he'll seek re-election. The Kentucky Republican also froze during a news conference in July, when he went silent for 19 seconds before aides escorted him away from the cameras.
McConnell's issues may be associated with the head trauma he's had, or potentially "some small vessel disease in his brain, or a combination of the two," said Carson.
"It will be very important to see if this is a continuing trend or are these the only two or three episodes that he's going to have as a result of that combination of factors," said Carson.
But still, McConnell is "perfectly lucid and capable between these freezes," Carson said.
Carson said it's time to be "thinking seriously" about attracting younger people to public office.
"That's the reason that we have the Executive Branch for America Program, to encourage conservative thinkers to come into government and see what's actually going on," said Carson. "You can be certified so you can hit the ground running, knowing already how government works."
Carson, 71, said he agrees presidential candidate Nikki Haley in requiring members of Congress who are older than 75 to take mental competency tests.
"When a physical examination is done, a complete physical, it does include a mental status exam, and there are things called mental competency exams which are very easily carried out in a few minutes," Carson said, adding that the results should be made public.
"You have to expose your financial dealings, your physical dealings," he said. "Why not your mental dealings if you're going to be doing important things in government?"
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.