Former Spanish minister continues on live TV show as he suffers heart murmur and defibrillator goes off

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Some people will always want the last word so when a former Spanish minister suffered a sudden heart problem live on TV, even this could not stop him finishing his attack on the government. 

When José Luís Corcuera was angrily lambasting the left-wing government his defibrillator went off and viewers saw the politician's chest visibly heave. Stunned for a moment, the 75-year-old murmured: “My defibrillator has worked, we have to leave it, I am sorry.” 

The shocked presenter Susana Griso, who presides over the morning talk show Espejo Publico on the Atena 3 channel watched by hundreds of thousands of Spaniards, tried to end the interview so he could see a doctor urgently. 

However, Mr Corcuera, a former Socialist interior minister who served between 1988 and 1993, was having none of it and finished his criticism of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, before leaving the set. 

A visibly relieved Ms Griso said: “He is a very brave man. I have conducted many interviews every programme but I have never experienced anything like this in my life.” The clip quickly went viral on social media in Spain, with scores of users expressing their concern for Mr Corcuera's health. 

“Such was the anger of the ex-minister José Luis Corcuera with the barbarities committed by the government that the poor man's defibrillator has gone off on television,” tweeted one user.  

Toni Cantó, an actor and politician from the centre-right Ciudadanos party, said: “I hope that the ex-minister Corcuera is well and recovers as soon as possible after the shock this morning.” Dr Javier L. Pais, a cardiologist, explained that the politician had suffered an arrhythmia, a condition in which the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm. 

“It is impressive to see the technological advances we have achieved. Mr Corcuera suffered a serious arrhythmia, his defibrillator kept him alive and he could carry on speaking,” he tweeted. “In other circumstances the outcome could possibly have been very bad.” 

The subject which could have provoked Mr Corcuera's ire was the government's plans to reform the way judges are chosen for Spain's Supreme Court, a measure which is opposed by parts of the ruling Socialist party and the opposition conservative People's Party.