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South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson hospitalized after collapse

VaselineSeptember 11, 2024

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South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson hospitalized after collapse

Former Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was taken to a hospital for treatment Tuesday night after he fainted during an event in Washington, a congressional aide with knowledge of the situation said.

Later Tuesday evening, Wilson’s office confirmed the news about X.

“Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) has fallen ill and is being evaluated at a local hospital in Washington, DC,” the report said.

His son, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, later wrote on behalf of his mother, who is in the hospital: “Doctors have confirmed to us that he had symptoms consistent with a stroke.”

The younger Wilson said he was able to speak with his father by phone, adding that the congressman “is stable and being monitored by medical professionals.”

Rep. Wilson, 77, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, attended two House votes Tuesday afternoon and joked with reporters near the meeting.

On Tuesday, he said he had had a busy summer vacation; Congress only returned from a month-long break this week.

Wilson told reporters he had just returned from a busy official trip to the Philippines, Australia and Europe, where he met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, before campaigning in his home state of South Carolina.

NewsNation was first to report Wilson’s hospitalization.

Wilson, who has represented a conservative district in central and southwestern South Carolina since 2001, is perhaps best known for shouting “You lie!” at President Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress in 2009, after Obama said that illegal immigrants would not be eligible for benefits under the legislation that eventually became the Affordable Care Act.

Wilson was rebuked by the entire House of Representatives and apologized to Obama.

More recently, he has become known as one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters in the war against Russia. He often wears pins or flags in blue and yellow, the national colors of Ukraine.