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Science & Health

Sen. Chris Murphy leaves hospital after stroke, will miss several weeks of votes

He will recover at a rehabilitation center, and his Johns Hopkins doctor expects a full recovery at the current rate of improvement.

Sen. Chris Murphy in 2017
Sen. Chris Murphy in 2017. Photo: Senate Democrats, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
12 news outlets reported this
Liberal6 outletsMurphy's recovery and his place in politicsCenter1 outletMurphy's stroke recovery and missed Senate votesConservative5 outletsMurphy's recovery, with campaign and personal background
Published 3 min read
Overview

Sen. Chris Murphy, a 53-year-old Connecticut Democrat, left Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Friday after suffering a stroke. He said in a statement that he will go to a rehabilitation center for several weeks and will miss votes for that long. Murphy said doctors found a small bleed in the thalamus, a region of the brain.

Dr. Jose Suarez, chief of neurosciences critical care at Johns Hopkins, called it a small hemorrhagic stroke. Suarez said that "at the current rate of improvement" he expects Murphy to make a full recovery following rehabilitation. Murphy's office said earlier that his arm went numb at his son's hockey game.

He was first taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Johns Hopkins. Murphy said he called 911 out of an abundance of caution. He said he is staying in touch with his team and Senate colleagues remotely, while his staff keeps the office's work going.

He called the episode scary for himself and his family and said he appreciated the respect for their privacy. The stroke came in the final days of the campaign, when he had been campaigning for Democratic candidates. Murphy is viewed as a possible 2028 presidential contender.

Democratic Sens. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania have also had strokes in recent years.

Three sides of the story

Liberal6 outlets

Murphy's recovery and his place in politics

ABC News places the story in Murphy's wider career. It calls him a leading voice on immigration and gun policy and notes his party secured majority control in Tuesday's midterms. MS NOW says the stroke sidelined "a prominent Democratic voice and outspoken critic of President Donald Trump" in the campaign's final days, and that he had been due in New Hampshire for Senate candidate Chris Pappas.

NBC News says it is unclear what led to the stroke and notes that he is deputy secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus, a post that may shift once his party takes the majority. CBS News opens its quotes with Murphy's "I want to be direct with you" and explains, citing the Cleveland Clinic, what the thalamus does. All four carry Suarez's expectation of a full recovery, and ABC and NBC note that three other Democratic senators have had strokes.

Center1 outlet

Murphy's stroke recovery and missed Senate votes

The Hill's headline says Murphy will miss "several weeks" of votes while recovering from a stroke. It reports that, in a statement Friday, he said he has left Johns Hopkins Hospital and will recover in a rehabilitation center for several weeks.

Conservative5 outlets

Murphy's recovery, with campaign and personal background

The New York Post calls Murphy a "liberal Connecticut Democrat," says he is expected to make a "full recovery," and adds personal background: his two teenage sons with his former wife, attorney Cathy Holahan, and the couple's divorce. The Washington Examiner says he will miss the first week of Senate votes after lawmakers return from recess. It lists candidates he campaigned for, including Abdul el Sayed in Michigan and Angie Nixon in Florida, and recalls his Middle East trip about the war in Iran.

Breitbart News builds on his office's statement, quoting Murphy and Suarez and relaying chief of staff Allison Herwitt's account of the hockey game. Just the News notes that staff described him as "awake and alert" by Monday and quotes Murphy's statement as reported by Politico.

What a side did not mention
  • Conservative outlets did not mentionThree other Democratic senators, Ben Ray Luján, Chris Van Hollen and John Fetterman, have had strokes in recent years. Reported by ABC News, NBC News
Where outlets disagree
All sources: 13 articles from 12 outlets

Liberal (6)

Center (1)

Conservative (6)

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