Congressman Joe Wilson collapses at event and is hospitalized

(Reuters) – Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, a ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, collapsed at an event on Tuesday and was hospitalized, his office said.

The message on the 77-year-old Wilson’s official X-profile states that the congressman is “ill and is being evaluated at a local hospital in Washington, DC.”

Wilson’s son Alan Wilson, the Attorney General of South Carolina, wrote in his X-profile: “Doctors have confirmed to us that he had stroke-like symptoms.”

“I was able to speak to him a few moments ago and am incredibly grateful that his condition is stable and he is being monitored by medical professionals,” he added.

Wilson fell ill while sitting in the front row of a Ukrainian Independence Day celebration at Ukraine House in Washington’s diplomatic enclave. The Ukrainian ambassador had just begun to speak when she paused and asked for a doctor.

Wilson has represented a conservative constituency in South Carolina since 2001. He rose to prominence in the United States in 2009 when he shouted “You’re lying!” at President Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington and Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Stephen Coates)