Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze Wednesday in the middle of a comment he was giving during his weekly press conference.

The Kentucky Republican was on Capitol Hill when he paused for roughly 30 seconds, staring straight ahead before colleagues came to his side to ask him if he was OK.

Among those who went to his side was GOP Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, who gripped McConnell’s arm and asked, “Hey Mitch, anything else you want to say? Or should we just go back to your office? Do you want to say anything else to the press?”

According to CNN, he returned to the news conference a few minutes later.

When asked by CNN and if his incident was related to his fall earlier this year, McConnell said “No, I’m fine.”

A McConnell aide, reports CNN, said the senator “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”

“He came back to handle Q and A, which as everyone observed was sharp,” the aide said.

McConnell was born in Sheffield in northwest Alabama in 1942. His family lived in Athens until he was 8, then moved to Georgia and Kentucky.

Now 81, McConnell has represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate since 1985.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.