Republican representative Joe Wilson, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, collapsed at an event on Tuesday and was rushed to hospital, his office said.

The official X profile for Wilson, 77, wrote a message that said the congressman "was taken ill and is being evaluated at a local hospital in Washington, DC."

Wilson's son Alan Wilson, the attorney general of South Carolina, wrote on his X profile that "doctors have confirmed to us that he has experienced stroke-like symptoms."

"I was able to speak with him moments ago and I am incredibly thankful that he is stable and being monitored by medical professionals," he added.

Wilson fell ill as he was sitting in the front row of a celebration of Ukraine's Independence Day at Ukraine House in Washington's diplomatic enclave. The Ukrainian ambassador had just started speaking when she stopped and asked for a doctor.

Wilson has represented a conservative district in South Carolina since 2001. He became well-known in the U.S. in 2009 for shouting "you lie!" at President Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress.