Calls for McConnell to resign grow as last incident is compared to Feinstein and Biden’s episodes

Calls for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to resign are growing as his latest "freezing up" incident draws comparisons to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) and President Joe Biden, both of whom have faced questions about their fitness for public office.

Feinstein, 90, missed 3 months of voting in the Senate after hospitalization in March due to shingles, and was hospitalized again briefly this month after a fall. A series of Biden gaffes as well as falling incidents have caused concerns among the public about his health since last year. Biden, 80, now uses a set of shorter stairs to get on Air Force One, according to reports. 

In February, Biden's physician determined that he is fit to serve.

Despite attempts at reassurance, an NBC News poll released in June 2023 found that a majority of Americans, 68%, have concerns about Biden's physical and mental health. 

McConnell, 81, froze in front of reporters during a news conference in Kentucky on Wednesday. The incident followed a similar issue that happened recently during a news conference on Capitol Hill. 

"This is horrifying and dangerous. Biden. McConnell. Fetterman. Feinstein. They all need to go. End this charade already," wrote political commentator Monica Crowley on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said on X Wednesday that "severe aging health issues and/or mental health incompetence in our nation’s leaders must be addressed."

"Biden, McConnell, Feinstein, and Fetterman are examples of people who are not fit for office and it’s time to be serious about it," she tweeted.

Sean Davis, CEO and founder of The Federalist, shared a similar view on social media.

"Feinstein, Fetterman, McConnell, Biden. Why do we tolerate political leaders like this? In a country of 330 million people, this is the best we can do? We are not a serious country," he wrote on X.

Political commentator Bill O'Reilly called for both Feinstein and McConnell to resign.

“We should have term limits in this country,” he said.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-N.J.) expressed the same view on term limits after the McConnell episode.

"For goodness sake, the family, friends, and staff of Senators Feinstein and McConnell are doing them and our country a tremendous disservice," he said. "It’s time for term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court, and some basic human decency."

Former Biden campaign advisor and former MSNBC weekend anchor Symone Sanders disagreed with Phillips.

"I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Congressman Dean Phillips and he is a lovely gentleman, but I do think that there are things that we say on the internet that we would not dare say in the presence of the people with whom we are discussing," she said on MSNBC.

"The reality is this, I watched that video about two times today of Senator McConnell and my heart broke for him, for his family, for the people that know him very well. He is a father, a grandfather, and I do hope that he is absolutely okay. I have said the same thing about Senator Feinstein here," Sanders added.

Sanders also said term limits would never come to fruition. 

"In order for term limits to happen in Congress, the people who would be term limited would need to vote for that. That’s not gonna happen, okay?” she said on Thursday. “So if you want some term limits, there is maybe some state-based ways to go about it potentially, I don’t know, I haven’t looked into the law, but what he is talking about is not based in facts.”

Trish Regan, conservative talk show host and formerly a television anchor at Bloomberg TV and the Fox Business Channel, compared McConnell's situation to Biden and Feinstein.

"I am so so sorry to see this," she wrote on X. "The reality is: we all get older. It’s just that when you are in a job like Mitch McConnell has, or Joe Biden has, or Diane Feinstein has… you need people around you to help you realize retirement is a GOOD and healthy option."

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele downplayed the issue in his response to those who argue that Biden, Feinstein and McConnell are too old for public office.

“I always find it amusing, all the 40-somethings who are right now talking about, ‘Oh, age limits,’ and ‘Oh my god, they’re too old.’ When they get to that age, they’re going to do the exact same thing," Steele said.

Steele added that the concerns over McConnell, Feinstein and Biden's fitness for office likely won't cause them to step down.

Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician for the U.S. Capitol, said on Thursday that McConnell can return to work after meeting with the senator's neurology team.