Sen. Mitch McConnell released from physical therapy rehab after fall

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that he has been released from an inpatient physical therapy facility after he fell earlier this month and was treated for a concussion and rib fracture.

NOTE: The video in the media player is from a previous report.

"I want to sincerely thank everyone for all the kind wishes. I'm happy to say I finished inpatient physical therapy earlier today and I'm glad to be home," McConnell said in a statement.

"I'm going to follow the advice of my physical therapists and spend the next few days working for Kentuckians and the Republican Conference from home. I'm in frequent touch with my Senate colleagues and my staff. I look forward to returning in person to the Senate soon."

The Kentucky senator, 81, was at a dinner after a reception for the Senate Leadership Fund, a campaign committee aligned with him, when he tripped and fell.

McConnell's head injury comes almost four years after he tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture that required surgery. The Senate had just started a summer recess, and he worked from home for some weeks as he recovered.

At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, McConnell opened up about his early childhood experience fighting polio. He described how his mother insisted that he stay off his feet as a toddler and worked with him through a determined physical therapy regime. He has acknowledged some difficulty in adulthood climbing stairs.

First elected in 1984, McConnell in January became the longest-serving Senate leader when the new Congress convened, breaking the previous record of 16 years.

McConnell is one of several senators who have been absent lately due to illness or hospitalization. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., 53, who suffered a stroke during his campaign last year, was expected to remain out for some weeks as he received care for clinical depression. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., 89, said earlier this month that she had been hospitalized to be treated for shingles.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.