Not that ‘big a deal,’ Clinton says of her near collapse
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrat Hillary Clinton said on Monday she could resume presidential campaigning in a couple of days after a bout of pneumonia that she initially believed was not “that big a deal.”
Clinton’s health scare came after she almost collapsed at an event on Sunday, causing her to cancel some campaign trips. It revived concerns about a tendency toward secrecy that has dogged her campaign, and it underscored perennial worries about the medical fitness of candidates for one of the world’s most demanding jobs.
“It will be in the next couple of days. I just want to get this over and done with and get back on the trail as soon as possible,” she said in a CNN interview on Monday night, and added she had ignored doctor’s orders to rest. “I just didn’t think it was going to be that big a deal.”
After she nearly fainted at a New York memorial ceremony for victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks, her campaign acknowledged on Monday it may have been too slow disclosing her pneumonia diagnosis. She was diagnosed with the lung infection on Friday.
“I think that in retrospect, we could have handled it better in terms of providing more information more quickly,” Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told MSNBC earlier in the day.
The health problem was the latest blow for the Democratic presidential nominee at a time when Republican rival Donald Trump has erased most of her lead in national opinion polls and become competitive again in many battleground states where the November 8 election is likely to be decided.
Clinton said she had dealt with similar episodes of dizziness before. “You know, it is something that has occurred a few times over the course of my life. I’m aware of it and usually can avoid it,” she told CNN.
Asked if she passed out during the incident on Sunday, she said: “No, I didn’t. I felt dizzy and I did lose my balance for a minute. Once I got in, once I could sit down, once I could cool off, once I had some water, I immediately started feeling better.”
Her campaign said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, would campaign on her behalf while she rests.
Both Clinton, 68, and Trump, 70, said they intended to release more of their medical details in the coming days, as their campaigns gear up for the November election.
Questions about the incident reinforced the perception of Clinton as secretive, a view fueled by controversy surrounding her use of a private email server while serving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
A federal investigation of that issue labeled her “extremely careless” in handling classified emails, but did not recommend criminal charges.
Trump said on Monday that health was a campaign issue but he did not attack Clinton over her physical condition. “I just hope she gets well and gets back on the trail,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
He focused his criticism on comments by Clinton last week in which she called half of his supporters a “basket of deplorables” of racist, homophobic people. Clinton later said she regretted the remark.
Trump has compared the comment with a much-criticized remark by 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in which he said 47% of the electorate was dependent on the government.
“I was deeply shocked and alarmed to hear my opponent attack, slander, smear, demean these wonderful, amazing people who are supporting our campaign by the millions,” Trump told a conference of National Guard members in Baltimore.