Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, died Tuesday night after having a medical emergency after President Trump’s speech to Congress, according to two Democratic lawmakers in the House who were told about his death.
He was 70 years old and had just become president in January. Turner had fought bone cancer in the past.
According to a lawmaker who was at the meeting, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., told the Democrats that Turner had died and that his family had been told. The meeting was closed to the public.
Another Democrat who saw Turner in the tunnel that goes under the Capitol and into the Cannon Building said it looked like Turner was having a medical emergency early Tuesday afternoon. The lawmaker said that Capitol Police were called and went to help him.
Several Democrats said Wednesday that they saw Turner or talked to him on the House floor before Trump spoke to the whole Congress. Pictures and videos from the speech also show Turner sitting in the back of the room.
When Turner ran for Congress in November, he had already been mayor of Houston from 2016 to 2024. Before that, he was a state lawmaker for more than twenty-five years.
Longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, died of pancreatic cancer in July of last year. Turner, who was close with Jackson Lee, said he would run for her seat, and local Democratic leaders chose him to be on the November ballot since Jackson Lee had already won her primary that March.
Democratic lawmakers may have bristled at President Donald Trump’s triumphant return to the Capitol, but polling suggests their constituents felt differently.
A CBS News/YouGov survey, conducted immediately after Trump’s joint address to Congress, polled a nationally representative sample of speech watchers—and the results are likely to delight the poll-conscious president.
The poll shows an overwhelming 76 percent of Americans viewing the speech approved of Trump’s remarks, with only 23 percent — less than a quarter — disapproving.
Sixty-eight percent of viewers described Trump’s speech as “hopeful,” with a majority also describing it as “presidential,” “inspiring,” “unifying,” and “entertaining.”
A clear majority of Americans who watched President Trump’s address felt he focused on issues that mattered to them, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey.
More than two-thirds of viewers said Trump has a clear plan to tackle inflation, which began under President Joe Biden. Additionally, over three-quarters of respondents supported Trump’s proposals on reducing government waste, immigration, and border security. Despite negative press coverage leading up to the speech, nearly one-quarter of viewers approved of Trump’s approach to handling Ukraine and Russia, Breitbart News reported, citing the polling results.
While presidential address audiences typically lean toward the sitting president’s party, the survey found that only 51% of viewers identified as Republicans, suggesting that Trump’s message resonated beyond his base.
Finally, more than three-quarters of viewers approved of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) ordering the Sergeant at Arms to remove Rep. Al Green (D-TX) from the chamber after he disrupted President Trump’s speech despite multiple warnings.
Trump also won praise from members of the Republican Party and many in the media.
“Tonight, President Trump made his triumphant return to Congress to share his bold, optimistic vision for renewing the American Dream,” Johnson noted on the X platform.
“This is the fifth State of the Union address I’ve seen Trump give — it was by far his best,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) added.
“The best moment — emotional moment, was DJ, who’s battling cancer. He wanted to be a police officer and during the speech, the president said the Secret Service has made him an agent,” Fox News anchor Bret Baier said, reflecting on a teen cancer survivor in the audience whom the president recognized during his speech.
“If you ever doubted that Donald Trump is the political colossus of our time and our nation, this night and this speech should have put that to rest,” Fox’s Brit Hume noted as well.
Former Fox liberal Geraldo Rivera added: “Trump was strong, defiant and entertaining.”
Former CNN politico Chris Cillizza said, “That was a very effective speech. You can hate it or him. But that speech was aimed squarely at issues where the public is with Trump — and filled with made-for-sharing moments. A master image-maker at work (and you can hate him and acknowledge that’s true!)”
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