Vice President Joe Biden’s office released this statement:
“Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden is at Christiana Medical Center undergoing treatment at present. He is alert and awake, and communicating with his parents and his wife, who are with him. We will provide more details as they become available.”
Let us hope this is not serious. Best wishes to the Biden family.
UPDATE: The third hand rumor from the hospital is that Beau Biden suffered a stroke. It must be stressed that it is an unconfirmed third hand rumor at this point.
2ND UPDATE: NBC News is confirming the problem is “neurological.” That means it could be a stroke or aneurysm.
3RD UPDATE NBC is now hedging and says the problem “could be neurological.”
4TH UPDATE (from DD): I am not a fan of going 2 hours now without any news. To me, that is an ominous sign. It could mean that Beau is in surgery or undergoing tests, and thus the doctors and/or the AG’s office or the Vice President’s office do not have anything new to say. Or it could mean something else.
The News Journal, in our waiting, as added this bit of color:
There are a number of government SUVs at the maternity wing entrance to the hospital and a state police car at the main entrance. Secret Service officers are at the entrance to the emergency room. There is only one helicopter on the hospital’s landing pad, and it belongs to the hospital. [..]
Beau’s father underwent two surgeries to correct near-fatal brain aneurysms in 1988.
“It goes to the whole thing about the grace of God and the good will of neighbors when your time is your time,” Biden said during a campaign stop in 2008. “When mine burst, fortunately, as described to me by the neurosurgeons, it ricocheted off my skull instead of into my brain. …
“It just makes you think about … every single day, you don’t know. You’d better take advantage of the day,” he said.
Asked at the time how he felt, Biden responded, “Oh, I’m fine. As a neurosurgeon will tell you, they either fix it or they don’t. And when they fix it, it’s fixed. If they don’t, they don’t and there’s not much in between.”
One in 15 Americans develops a brain aneurysm, a weakening of the walls of an artery or vessel. When the artery ruptures, it causes bleeding into the brain, causing a hemorrhage, which can lead to stroke, brain damage and death.
They don’t confirm that Beau has a brain aneuryism, but they begin talking about Joe Biden’s 1988 brain aneuryism. That is a big clue that the News Journal knows something and everyone is sitting on the story, perhaps for a news conference, or for others to be informed. And that again is not a good sign.
5th UPDATE: WPVI in Philadelphia is reporting that Biden presented with signs of a stroke:
Beau Biden was showing signs of a possible stroke and was then rushed to the hospital from his home. A source close to the family tells ABC News that Beau had some discomfort and a headache.
6th UPDATE: CBS3 in Philadelphia calls it an “apparent stroke.”
7th Update:
Here’s the explanation:
“Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden was admitted this morning to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware after having what we believe to be a mild stroke,” Dr. Timothy Gardner, Medical Director of the Center for Heart and Vascular Surgery at Christiana Care Health System, said in a just-released statement.