Even Elon Musk thinks Mitch McConnell freezing on Capitol Hill is 'insane'
- Elon Musk called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly freezing mid-sentence "insane."
- The billionaire Twitter boss suggested that there needs to be a constitutional amendment for term limits.
Even Elon Musk — who has aligned himself with Republicans in Congress — thinks Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly freezing mid-sentence during a weekly Republican leadership press conference was "insane."
The billionaire Twitter boss suggested in a tweet early Thursday that there needs to be a constitutional amendment to implement term limits for members of the United States Congress.
"We need a constitutional amendment. This is insane," Musk said in a reply to a tweet of a video showing McConnell suddenly stop speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
At the beginning of Senate Republicans' weekly press conference on Wednesday, McConnell froze up mid-sentence before being escorted away by other senators and an aide.
The 81-year-old Senate Minority leader from Kentucky later returned to the podium where he took questions from reporters and was forced to address the incident.
"I'm fine," McConnell replied after being asked whether his freezing up had anything to do with a concussion he had earlier this year after falling.
A McConnell aide said that the GOP senator stepped away because he "felt light-headed," and insisted that he was "sharp" when he returned to take questions.
In the past, Musk has floated the idea of age limits for political leaders, saying in 2021 that anyone over 70 years old should be barred from holding office.
Broadly speaking, Americans also think their government is too old. An Insider/Morning Consult poll conducted last year found that 77% of Americans would support an age cap on lawmakers serving in Congress. The survey was conducted as part of Insider's expansive "Red, White, Gray" series of reports that explored how the US has effectively become a "gerontocracy."
Public support for passing an age cap is not likely to be enough. Experts say it would likely take a constitutional amendment to impose such a change. Lawmakers themselves, including younger ones, were also hesitant to support such a requirement. Many of them previously told Insider that would rather see term limits. Others said that the best bar remains the fact that lawmakers must continue to be reelected, even if incumbency comes with huge advantages.
Musk has also been supportive of Republicans. Insider previously reported that the SpaceX and Twitter owner gave more in political donations to the GOP than to Democrats and earlier this year, Musk hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Twitter where he launched his campaign in a glitch-filled Twitter Spaces event.