Minnesota governor faints during State of the State address

Gov. Mark Dayton.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

As he delivered his State of the State speech Monday night in St. Paul, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) collapsed, hitting his forehead on the lectern.

Immediately, people rushed to help the 69-year-old, including Sen. Dan Schoen, a paramedic, CBS News reports. Schoen said within 20 minutes of the collapse, Dayton was acting normally and poking fun at himself. Dayton was about 40 minutes into his speech when his words slurred, he began to tremble, and he fell forward, witnesses said. The Legislature adjourned following his collapse.

Dayton's chief of staff, Jaime Tincher, released a statement saying Dayton "quickly recovered, walked out of the Capitol, and returned home. EMTs joined the governor there, and performed a routine check. He is now spending time with his son and grandson." Tincher said Dayton still plans on presenting his 2017 budget on Tuesday morning, and thanks "the people of Minnesota for their outpouring of support and concern."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.