In a shocking moment that occurred on Wednesday, February 20, Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann collapsed while presiding over the state of Mississippi’s Senate chamber. The startling moment in which the elderly, 77-year-old GOP collapsed all of a sudden as lawmakers rushed to his aid was captured on video.
In the video that has emerged of the incident, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann can be seen standing at a podium in the front of the Mississippi senate chamber, giving a speech to the gathered legislators. The video shows him leaning forward and then suddenly falling to the floor, while a number of the legislators rush to his aid and the Mississippi Senate goes to recess.
The office of Lt. Gov. Hosemann released a statement on what happened in which it said that he was “doing well and in good spirits” despite the incident and was appreciative of the medical staff who helped him. He also thanked people, in a later statement, for their “kind words and prayers.”
In that statement, he further added that he was dehydrated when he fell over, but was “feeling fine now.” He said, in that statement, “I am grateful for Mississippi’s phenomenal medical professionals and am ready to go back to work tomorrow.” Continuing, he said that he will remember to stay hydrated in the future, saying, “Lesson learned: Stay hydrated.”
His full statement on the matter, one posted to X (formerly Twitter), provided, “Thank you all for the kind words and prayers. I was dehydrated and am feeling fine now. I am grateful for Mississippi’s phenomenal medical professionals and am ready to go back to work tomorrow. Lesson learned: Stay hydrated.”
Commenters on his posted statement said things like, “Good to hear. Please, do not run for Governor. Retire with dignity and spend time with your family,” “Good to know. Take care of yourself,” “Sending well wishes to you from Minnesota. Please take care,” and “Glad to hear you’re back in the saddle, LtGov. Drink water!”
Posting about the matter on X, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said that his wife and he are praying for the lieutenant governor in the wake of the accident, writing, “.@firstladyofms and I are praying for Lieutenant Governor Hosemann!” The comments on the post weren’t overly positive, with one representative commenter saying, “We’re praying he retires and spends time with his family after being a typical uniparty rino liar.” Watch the incident here:
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Commenting on the Lt. Gov. after the frightening incident, Mississippi Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, who is one of the key allies of Hosemann in the Mississippi Senate, posted an update on social media in which he commented on the Lt. Gov.’s health and ability to keep working in the Capitol.
He wrote, in that post, “I appreciate all of the calls and text messages concerning Lt Governor Hosemann. As he walked out of the Capitol a little while ago, he looked at us and said, ‘Hey, that last bill was awful!’ He is doing well, and if I know him, he will be trying to come back to the Capitol today.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video