Clinton Campaign: ‘We Could Have Done Better’ While Handling The Pneumonia News

Hillary Clinton abruptly left the Ground Zero ceremony on Sunday, and the situation quickly devolved into not only a scary situation but a public relations nightmare. When a major party candidate grows “overheated” and ends up stumbling and nearly collapsing on video, this presents — to any rational voter — a legitimate concern. To compound the situation, Clinton doesn’t (and neither does Donald Trump) yet allow a “protective pool” of reporters to follow their every move on the campaign trail.

So, for a few hours, no one really knew what was wrong with Clinton, and media outlets did some one-sided sparring over how the speculative phase of the incident was handled. Many more hours after the fact, Clinton’s doctor revealed her patient’s pneumonia diagnosis, which actually happened on Friday but was never disclosed. And we’ve since heard that several Clinton staffers were also ill. Throughout this mess, the press has criticized the campaign for a lack of transparency. Now, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon has told MSNBC how communication could have been better:

“I think that in retrospect, we could have handled it better in terms of providing more information more quickly … In those 90 minutes, we were putting a priority on making sure she was OK.”

Yes, the campaign waited too long to reach out to the press. Their concern over Clinton’s health in the midst of the situation makes sense, but a protective pool would have alleviated much of the confusion and resulting backlash. After all, Donald Trump is now trying to make nice while pretending he never criticized her “stamina,” and the press is still miffed that the Clinton campaign kept them in the dark.

However, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell tweeted word from Fallon that more of Clinton’s medical information will be forthcoming in a matter of days.

Earlier on Monday, CNN commentator David Axelrod tweeted how “an unhealthy penchant for privacy” complicated this situation more than necessary.

In response, Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri echoed Fallon’s sentiment (“We could have done better”) and stated, “It is a fact that public knows more about HRC than any nominee in history.” Palmieri also believes the opposite is true of Trump.

Meanwhile, Clinton Campaign Manger Robby Mook appeared on MSNBC and fielded a question about whether Clinton’s aides could say “no” to her. Mook claims Clinton just wanted to keep on trucking despite not feeling well, and it caught up to her.

(Via MSNBC, CNN & Politico)