Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton fell ill on Sunday as she became “overheated” and had to leave early from a September 11 memorial ceremony in New York City.
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A Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters showed an 8-point lead for Mrs Clinton has vanished since the last week of August.
In a telephone interview, Rep. Joe Crowley of NY told The Associated Press that at one point, he saw what he thought was a staff member tap Clinton on her shoulder.
Several hours later, her campaign revealed she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday and advised to rest.
Clinton had planned two days of fundraising and made plans to appear on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. “On Friday, during follow-up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia”, her physician Lisa Bardack said in a statement on Sunday released by the campaign, adding that Clinton became “overheated and dehydrated” at the 9/11 memorial.
Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies that gained attention last Monday, when she had a coughing fit at the start of a campaign event.
Clinton’s incident came less than a day after she tried to manage the fallout from her remarks at a NY fundraiser on Friday, during which she said “half” of Trump’s supporters fall into a “basket of deplorables” – “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it”.
“She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule”.
After a brief rest in her daughter’s NY apartment following the event, Clinton emerged from the building unassisted, reassuring the crowd that she “felt great”. Later in the day, according to the Associated Press, she left her daughter’s apartment, waved to the crowd and said she was “feeling great”.
But a witness told Fox News that Clinton stumbled off the curb, her “knees buckled” and she lost a shoe as she was helped into a van during her “unexpected early departure”.
The video that showed her swaying and buckling with aides holding her up came from an unverified Twitter account under the name Zdenek Gazda, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Spokesman Nick Merrill said Clinton is “feeling much better”.
When Clinton felt ill Sunday, she went to her daughter’s apartment in NY without the reporters who normally travel with her. She then hugs a little girl that runs up to her on the street before getting in her “Scooby” van and driving away.
Clinton’s public day began when she arrived at the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan.
But that probably won’t stop conservative pundits and politicians from insinuating that Clinton is hiding something about her health. “I look forward to seeing her back out on the campaign trail and continuing on the path to victory”.
The stumble plays into the rhetoric of Republican Donald Trump, who has accused Clinton without evidence of lacking “stamina” and whose campaign has pushed unsubstantiated theories about videos of her laughing and coughing. Despite Trump’s numerous missteps, the race remains close and many Americans view Clinton as dishonest and untrustworthy. “I missed some of the briefings immediately after 9/11 because I wasn’t feeling well”.
Hillary Clinton attended the 2016 ceremony at the September 11 memorial in NY when the “medical episode” occured.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Clinton said “basket of deplorables, ‘ not “bucket of deplorables” in reference to ‘half” of Trump’s supporters. Both had promised to suspend campaign activities to mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks.
“Since we can’t get that done for taxes, I don’t think we’re going to get it done for health”, he said, referencing Trump’s refusal to match Clinton’s release of her personal tax records.
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In December 2012, Clinton suffered a concussion and shortly afterward developed a blood clot.
