Does an authentic video show Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in December 2024 with a large white bandage around his head, standing mute at a lectern, when a woman asks if his head is "OK after that fall"? No, that's not true: An old video clip showing the moment McConnell froze up in 2023 has been edited. A large bandage wrapped around the senator's head, and audio of the female voice asking if his head was OK were added to the video. The bandage was not on McConnell's head in 2023 when he froze, nor was it on his head after he tripped and fell on December 10, 2024. McConnell was photographed after that fall with a small dressing under his eye and a brace on his left wrist.
The edited video appeared in a post (archived here) on X on December 11, 2024. The post was captioned:
Figures that the same republicans who screamed that Joe Biden is "too old" just voted for a diaper-wearing , dementia-addled 78 year old & won't say shit about 82 year old Moscow Mitch McConnell having yet another mini-stroke and busting his head at lunch.
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Thu Dec 12 14:25:36 2024 UTC)
The post includes the edited nine-second-long video clip, and two additional photos, which are authentic. As for the suggestion that McConnell suffered one or more "mini-strokes," the scope of this fact check will not extend to the cause of McConnell's fall in December 2024, or any episodes in the past when he froze. A September 5, 2023, letter (archived here) addressed to McConnell from the attending physician of the U.S. Congress said:
There is no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, TIA or movement disorder such as Parkinson's disease.
The two photos (pictured above right) are details drawn from one photo (archived here) taken at the Capitol on December 10, 2024. It can be found in the collection of AP Newsroom editorial photos of McConnell that day (archived here). The photo, ID # 24345780504629, is captioned:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is seen with a bandaged cheek and wrist brace following a stumble and fall earlier at lunch, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The source of the edited video clip dates back to an incident that happened at a news conference on July 26, 2023. A C-SPAN video shows how McConnell abruptly froze (at 44 seconds in) and remained motionless without speaking for about 20 seconds. His head was not bandaged during that episode. The Lead Stories composite image below shows the 0:46-second mark of the C-SPAN video (top) compared with the start of the video clip posted on X (bottom) featuring the large bandage edited onto McConnell's head.
(Source: Lead Stories composite image with C-SPAN and X screenshots taken on Thu Dec 12 20:48:44 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories published a fact check on a previous claim, that the woman in green had hypnotized McConnell, causing him to freeze in 2023.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving Mitch McConnell can be found here.
