Rollan Roberts II was in the middle of announcing his long-shot bid to be the next president of the United States when events took an unexpected turn.
The West Virginia businessman’s wife was standing in the background as he spoke, and she suddenly began wobbling before collapsing to the ground — a man standing next to her managed to catch her before she crashed completely to the floor.
Turns out, Rebecca Lee Roberts is five months pregnant with the couple’s first child, and her husband’s reaction to her fainting has taken the internet by storm.
Roberts initially looked over his shoulder amid all the ruckus — an American flag was knocked over as his wife fell — as one might react to an unwanted interruption. For a long few seconds, he watched as others come to the pregnant woman’s aid. In fact, Roberts is the last one in the camera shot to begin moving to her side, as even people off camera came forward.
Rollan Roberts II announces he is running for president this week, when his five-months pregnant wife passes out. She was fine, and Roberts was obviously highly concerned. Hell of a start to Rollan Roberts 2024! pic.twitter.com/iPP1qcx3pr
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 26, 2023
Roberts did announce afterward that his wife was okay.
“Can we give a hand to the medical team for their assistance? She is five months pregnant,” he said. “Her blood pressure is fine, so we thank the Lord.”
In an apparent attempt to salvage his big announcement, Roberts’ campaign reportedly edited out the fainting while sharing the video on Facebook. A move that drew even more scorn. Of course, the fact that he is a Republican only added fuel to the fire.
As seen in the video below at the 7:30-minute clip, Mrs. Roberts suddenly goes from standing to sitting in a chair — the remarkable thing here being that she apparently decided to gut it out, sticking around so as to not totally ruin her husband’s big moment:
Suffice it to say, his uphill presidential bid just got that much more difficult as many on social media suggested his campaign started AND ended at the exact same moment.
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:
That was a solid 5-6 seconds of being aware his wife collapsed and doing absolutely nothing, priorities noted
— Tim Bucklin (@timbucklin) January 27, 2023
Not sure I recall a time when a candidate announced their intention to run for office and have that campaign end at the exact same moment.
— Tom Hoen (@thoen88) January 26, 2023
In an historic move, Roberts is the first presidential candidate to launch his campaign by immediately handing over the only piece of oppo research the other candidates will need.
— Diogenes Wept (@juliacmicheltx1) January 26, 2023
The Chairman of the Board of the International Association of Pageantry appeared to be appalled at the interruption of his pageantry.
(yes, he really has that position listed on his LinkedIn – along with assurances that his wife is okay)
— Casey (@CatCaseyAZ) January 27, 2023
I love how he just stands at the podium and looks. Then sees the others going to her, and decides he should probably slowly meander over there. Really classy move.
— Is it bedtime yet? (@dpgumby) January 26, 2023
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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