In a very awkward moment that came on Monday, February 10, a Democratic member of the United States Congress, a 76-year-old from Connecticut named John Larson, appeared to freeze for nearly a full minute when giving an anti-Trump speech. After his lengthy pause, Rep. Larson returned to speaking, doing so haltingly while speaking noticeably slowly and slurring his words. The incident appears to have stemmed from a medical incident caused by a medication.
As could be expected given the recent outcry over Mitch McConnell’s falling twice down the stairs on the same day due to his age, the incident quickly took off online, where commenters used it to call for term limits and note the obvious issues that come from putting extremely elderly lawmakers in charge of governing the country.
Rep. Larson’s office, however, quickly issued a statement in which it claimed that the pause and slurred words were caused by medication rather than an age-related problem like dementia or similar issues. It claimed that the slurred speech and freeze “were likely an adverse reaction” to a medication that the congressman is now taking.
In that statement, Rep. Larson’s office said, “Congressman Larson appreciates the well wishes from everyone who has reached out. This afternoon, he had what was likely an adverse reaction to a new medication and is having tests administered by the House Attending Physician out of an abundance of caution.”
Continuing, his office’s statement claimed that the congressman quickly recovered and was doing much better later in the day, and that he is “in good spirits.” It said, “He later participated in multiple meetings in his office and was alert and engaged. The Congressman remains in touch with his staff and in good spirits.”
But, still, the incident quickly went viral online. Conservative news influencer Collin Rugg, for example, posted, “NEW: Democrat Rep. John Larson has a medical episode during a speech, freezes up for nearly a minute after blasting republicans for not “speaking up.” “Don’t worry. No one on the Republican side who controls both the House and Senate is going to speak up…” Larson has been in Congress since 1999. He is 76 years old.”
A commenter on Collin’s post asked if, at this point, Congress is just essentially a nursing home. That commenter wrote, “Serious question. Do the House and Senate have daytime nurses and aides attending to these people? I picture a wing where they go for energy injections, etc…maybe like the nursing home in Cocoon. The difference is whatever they’re doing doesn’t work.” Watch Rep. Larson’s moment here:
"*" indicates required fields
Another commenter on the post from Rugg noted that the incident seems like a perfect metaphor for the state of the sclerotic American Congress, writing, “Another career politician who’s been in office for decades, freezing up mid-speech while lecturing others about accountability. Perfect metaphor for Congress though.”
Yet another commenter on Rugg’s post noted, “I’ll go ahead and say it…a senior executive could not perform at corporate standards and maintain employment battling those factors. Age, health condition, and frankly being in the same job with hohum ratings for years. Why do we expect less from the leaders of our nation?”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video