Dramatic video footage capatured Mississippi’s lieutenant governor Delbert Hosemann collapsing on the floor of the state Senate yesterday, prompting emergency medical attention.
Video from the Senate chamber showed Hosemann, 77, standing at a podium at the front of the chamber when he leaned forward and then fell to the floor.
Several people immediately rushed to his aid and the Senate quickly recessed.
Here is the entire footage of the traumatic scene.
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1892303236842815784
According to officials from Hosemann’s office, the cause of his collapse was dehydration.
Hosemann’s office released a statement a short while later saying he was “doing well and in good spirits” and expressing his appreciation for medical staff. The lieutenant governor later issued a statement thanking people for their “kind words and prayers” and explaining that he had been dehydrated but was “feeling fine now.”
“I am grateful for Mississippi’s phenomenal medical professionals and am ready to go back to work tomorrow,” Hosemann said in the statement. “Lesson learned: Stay hydrated.”
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.
— Delbert Hosemann (@DelbertHosemann) February 19, 2025
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves posted that he and his wife “are praying for Lieutenant Governor Hosemann!”
State lawmakers also posted messages of support.
Just last week, Hosemann had presented a $326 million tax cut package that he said would cut taxes over the next four years but said it needed to be “sustainable.”
It includes reducing the state income tax and the sales tax on groceries, and also proposes raising the gasoline tax to pay for road work.
While the livestreamed video of the Mississippi Senate has since been deleted the clip of Hosemann’s fall later circulating on social media, with online spectators questioning the state of Hosemann’s health at 77 years old and refueling ongoing debate about the health and term limits of politicians at both the state and national levels.
Recent incidents have left many voters once again calling for term limits to ensure the health of their elected officials doesn’t impact their ability to serve.
Just within the past month, a total of three senior lawmakers have suffered health scares that have caused injury and even hospitalization.
Early this year former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi returned to Congress needing a walker.
Pelosi, 84, appeared on the House floor during the joint session to certify the 2024 presidential election results, forced to use a walker following her December hip replacement surgery.
The longtime California Democrat was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery after a fall during a congressional trip to Luxembourg on December 13.
Then former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell left the Capitol in a wheelchair. The 82-year-old lawmaker required emergency medical help after two dangerous falls.
And last week, long time Democratic Rep. John Larson, who inexplicably stopped speaking during a speech on the House of Representatives floor, said last Tuesday he had suffered a complex partial seizure.
The 76-year-old Democrat, who is serving his 13th term, said the House attending physician referred him for further evaluation following the incident. The diagnosis was determined after a round of tests, according to a news release from Larson’s office.