US Senator Chris Murphy Suffers Stroke, Awake and Responding to Treatment

United States Senator Chris Murphy, a high-ranking Democratic legislator, has suffered a stroke and been hospitalised. According to his senior aide, he is 'awake and alert.'

Murphy remained hospitalised on Sunday after seeking medical care for numbness in his arm the day before, his chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said in a statement. He is being treated at Johns Hopkins, one of the country's top hospitals.

Herwitt said he was 'responding well to treatment,' adding: 'The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery.'

Murphy, a senator from Connecticut, is not up for re-election in Tuesday's midterms, which will decide which party controls Congress. He is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028.

Murphy serves as a top Democrat on two powerful Senate committees: appropriations, which decides how United States government funds are allocated, and foreign relations.

He toured the Middle East in October, the first regional trip by a United States Democrat since the US-Israel war on Iran began in February.

A fierce critic of President Donald Trump and the Iran war, Murphy has pledged that Democrats will withhold funding for the war if they win the Senate on Tuesday. He accused the Defense Department of denying him access to a United States military base in Qatar during his trip last month and has pledged to investigate Trump and his family for alleged corruption if Democrats win the Senate.

Trump said he was 'really surprised' to learn about Murphy's stroke, adding that 'nobody wants to have that.'