The Clinton campaign now says it will reveal “more information” about Hillary Clinton’s overall health, though they say the pneumonia is the “extent” of Cher current health problems.
The candidate fired up critics who had been questioning her health for weeks, appearing to faint while leaving a 9/11 memorial service on Sunday.
Although Clinton’s doctors say the Democratic nominee had been struggling with a “respiratory illness” that turned into pneumonia, her staff’s response to the ordeal— first telling reporters she was “overheated” and “fully recovered,” but then reversing their story later—have left many unanswered questions.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told MSNBC that Clinton would be releasing “additional medical information” towards the end of the week. “In the next couple days, we’re going to be releasing additional medical information about Hillary Clinton,” Fallon told Andrea Mitchell Reports.
He also noted that Clinton herself told aides she was fully recovered. “She was telling everybody in earshot that she was perfectly fine,” Fallon said.
But while Clinton’s staff plays off the incident as minor, even Democrats are growing concerned that the Clintonian desire for secrecy was having an impact on her ability to run an effective Presidential campaign.
Obama guru David Axelrod ripped Clinton for her “unhealthy penchant for privacy,” which has fueled the conspiracy theorists.
Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What's the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) September 12, 2016
Several other Clinton allies, speaking anonymously to The Hill, also questioned whether the “code of silence” that surrounds Clinton has outlived its usefulness.
“Why couldn’t the campaign just have been aboveboard about this?” the “ally” asked reporters. “She got sick—tell people she’s sick and move on. I know they thought it would give the right wingers something to pounce on, but who cares?”
Meanwhile, other Dems are reportedly getting nervous. Former Ohio governor Ted Strickland told a crowd that Tim Kaine was ready to be President, while introducing the Vice Presidential nominee at an event in Dayton, Ohio.
Tim Kaine "ready to become the president" if that ever became necessary, ex-Ohio Gov Ted Strickland says in intro at Dayton Stivers High
— Darrel Rowland (@darreldrowland) September 12, 2016
And on NPR, journalist Cokie Roberts told the public radio audience that the Dems were dealing with an “already skittish” party, and that Clinton’s time off the campaign trail had “them very nervously beginning to whisper about her stepping aside and finding another candidate.”
