Kennedy Experiences Convulsions; Taken Out on Stretcher

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 12:42 PM on January 20, 2009.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., was taken from a celebratory congressional luncheon this afternoon after experiencing convulsions. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said Kennedy "had a seizure, and he's gone to the hospital." President Barack Obama told the gathering that Kennedy "was there when the Voting Rights Act passed, and along with John Lewis, was a warrior for justice. And so I would be lying to you if I did not say that right now a part of me is with him. And I think that's true for all of us. This is a joyous time, but it's also a sobering time. And my prayers are with him and his family and (Kennedy's wife) Vicki."

Update: NBC reports that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told reporters briefly that he and Kerry went to the ambulance with Kennedy and that he looked better there. "It was a difficult thing," Hatch said. "It looked to me like he was going to be OK" when he was with Kennedy at the ambulance.

Update: "He seemed to be going into a kind of seizure," former Vice President Walter Mondale told ABC. "I'm told he's doing much better now. He seemed to be in great difficulty for a brief period."

Tagged as: obama, kennedy, inauguration, capitol

Faiz Shakir is the research director at the Center for American Progress and serves as editor of ThinkProgress.org and the Progress Report.