Without offering any evidence, Mr Trump said in OH on Monday that she “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on Isis [Islamic State] and all of the many adversaries we face”.
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In the span of a few weeks, rumors about Hillary Clinton’s supposedly failing health have wormed their way from conspiracy websites into a Donald Trump speech.
The same Twitter user later posted what was purported to be a magnetic resonance angiogram of Clinton’s brain showing a significant “abnormality” in the brain tissue.
The fake documents, dated February 5, 2014, which appear to have originated from a since-deleted Twitter account, purport to come from Dr. Bardack. And according to the Democratic nominee’s physician, Clinton is healthy enough to occupy the Oval Office.
In a statement provided to FactCheck.org by the Clinton campaign, Bardack dismissed the authenticity of these documents, saying they are “false, were not written by me and are not based on any medical facts”. For one, Bardack’s title was incorrect at the top of the fake letterhead.
“As a result of the concussion, Mrs. Clinton also experienced double vision for a period of time and benefitted from wearing glasses with a Fresnel Prism”, Bardack wrote. “Her concussion symptoms, including the double vision, resolved within two months”. Clinton takes other medications to address her hypothyroidism, a common condition especially among older adults. During Clinton’s 11 hours of testimony before Congress on the Benghazi matter – an episode Clinton’s backers point to as an example of her physical endurance – Clinton laughed at length and inappropriately, Orient says, suggesting she was not quite right.
The press release linked the health rumors to other conspiratorial ideas Trump has promoted, including discredited questions about President Obama’s citizenship.
Fox’s Sean Hannity dedicated an entire week to the matter, pointing to an exchange with reporters in which Clinton, Hannity said, did a “twitching thing”, followed by a “violent, violent, repetitive jerking of the head”.
Trump himself has raised questions about Clinton’s vigor, repeatedly claiming Clinton went home to sleep after giving a speech.
“While it is dismaying to see the Republican nominee for president push deranged conspiracy theories in a foreign policy speech, it’s no longer surprising”, said Mrs Clinton’s communications director Jennifer Palmieri in a statement.
Another photo shows the 69-year-old Clinton being assisted after apparently slipping on a step – “the latest evidence”, the site warns, of Clinton’s frailty or instability.
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When asked his thoughts on this, Trump Jr. said that his father is “going to be who he is …” The segment begins with host Steve Doocy wondering aloud that the seven days that Clinton has reportedly taken off this month are a sign of her impending physical decay.
