Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he would not step down “anytime soon” after his health episode at the Capitol last month sparked talks of retirement.

McConnell, 81, stopped his remarks midsentence during a news conference on June 26 and was escorted away from cameras only to return shortly after. The longest-serving party leader in Senate history has insisted he plans to finish his term following the incident.

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In an interview with Politico published Monday, McConnell was asked if he was going anywhere, to which he replied: “Not anytime soon.”

In his first public appearance since he froze during the press conference, McConnell took jabs at multiple Democratic leaders while speaking at Kentucky's Fancy Farm picnic earlier this month.

Among those he targeted was Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), who is the incumbent in the gubernatorial race, facing off against Republican Daniel Cameron. Beshear declined to comment on the possibility of a vacant Senate seat in his state.

“I mean, it’s not vacant,” Beshear told Politico. “I’ve talked to his people, he’s doing alright. He’s going to serve out his term.”

At McConnell's request, the GOP-led Kentucky legislature passed a bill in 2021 that would require a governor to fill an empty U.S. Senate seat with a member of the same party as the departed senator. Talks that Beshear would challenge the Republican-supported law if McConnell left his seat empty have circulated since his health episode.

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“There’s not going to be a vacancy,” Beshear said. “That would be total speculation.”

McConnell sustained a concussion and fractured a rib in March after falling at a private dinner in Washington, D.C. The top Republican returned to the Senate about six weeks after the incident.