Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina, was hospitalized on Tuesday following a medical emergency, according to a social media update.
The official post on Mr. Wilson’s social media account confirmed that he fell ill and is currently being evaluated at a local hospital in Washington, DC.
Alan Wilson, Joe Wilson’s son and South Carolina’s Attorney General, provided an update on Tuesday night, stating that doctors had confirmed his father experienced stroke-like symptoms. “I was able to speak with him moments ago and am incredibly thankful that he is stable and being monitored by medical professionals,” Alan Wilson wrote.
Joe Wilson, 77, gained national attention in 2009 when he shouted “you lie” at President Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress. The outburst was widely criticized as a breach of protocol, and Wilson subsequently apologized both personally and in an official statement.
Currently, Mr. Wilson is running for re-election against Democrat David Robinson in the conservative district of central South Carolina, where he has served since December 2001. He is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Further details about his condition were not immediately available.