Clinton Health Imbroglio Pushes Campaign Into Murky Waters
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton left an event commemorating the September 11 attacks yesterday morning, citing heat exhaustion. Her campaign later stated that the former Secretary of State was suffering pneumonia. Coming on the heels of widespread questions about Clinton’s physical fitness to occupy the White House, the incident is a blow to her campaign. She has long battled rumors of poor health. While Secretary of State, Clinton collapsed and suffered a concussion as a result of stomach virus symptoms. Conservative commentators, among them former White House staffer Karl Rove, assert that the Clintons worked to cover up the aftereffects of the concussion to boost her political career, using multiple whiteboards during a Fox News interview to demonstrate a timeline for the possible conspiracy. Some believe that Clinton suffered lasting brain damage. Earlier this year, conservative commentator Mike Cernovich asserted that an oblong item carried by a Secret Service agent was a medical device used to inject Diazepam, a drug used to relieve seizures (upon close examination, the device bears a striking resemblance to a flashlight). His colleagues on the Internet have seized upon a range of incidents, including Clinton’s wide-eyed expression at one point during the Democratic National Convention and a fumbled question several months ago, to suggest that Clinton may have developed Parkinson’s disease or another neurological disorder as a result. Today’s incident will almost certainly reinforce their suspicions.
Despite the tide of rumors and yesterday’s incident, Clinton seems to be in good overall health. Like all presidential candidates, she released a doctor’s letter early in the campaign, which stated that the former First Lady and Senator from New York was in excellent physical condition. The internist who wrote the note, Dr. Lisa Bardack of Mt. Kisco Medical Group in New York, stated that apart from suffering environmental allergies, mild hyperthyroidism, deep vein thrombosis a few years ago and the 2012 concussion, Clinton was in good shape, exercising vigorously on a regular basis. From the letter alone, one could safely conclude that she would be among the healthiest individuals to occupy the Oval Office. The diagnosis of pneumonia will not necessarily change that; many Americans contract the disease every year. Clinton’s opponents, however, seem to hope that something more sinister is afoot, arguing that she passed out and suggesting that the campaign is trying to conceal the truth about her health. Only time will tell whether the Washington Post’s prediction that Clinton’s health is finally becoming a real issue will be borne out.
