Clinton on not disclosing pneumonia diagnosis on Friday: "I just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal." https://t.co/1lGeoxkx9m
— CNN (@CNN) September 13, 2016
Hillary Clinton grew “overheated” at the 9/11 Ground Zero ceremony on Sunday, and it turned into a major scandal. She stumbled and slumped into a van, and her team didn’t keep the press informed, which further inflated the controversy. We’ve since heard that Clinton was suffering from pneumonia, and some members of her team have had it, and she was largely dehydrated. The press seems to take umbrage at how neither Clinton nor Trump allow the customary “protective pool” of reporters to shadow them, but of course, Clinton’s receiving much more criticism for the same omission.
To be fair, Clinton could have benefited from the protective pool to quell some swirling rumors and stem the backlash. Her campaign admits they flubbed the situation, and now Clinton is defending the lack of transparency over her health to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. In the short clip above, Cooper wasn’t rude or cruel, but he immediately gets down to business:
“Your handling of this and your campaign’s — you know, their refusal to acknowledge what happened until really after that video was circulated confirm suspicions of some voters that you’re not transparent or trustworthy?”
Clinton replied, “Oh my goodness, Anderson.” She swiftly compared herself to Trump, whose sketchy doctor wrote a glowing letter of health in five minutes while a limo waited outside. That doesn’t even account for Trump’s lack of disclosure about taxes and finances, but to return to the media’s target, Clinton feels like folks know a lot about her:
“I think it’s fair to say, Anderson, that people know more about me than almost anyone in public life. They’ve got 40 years of my tax returns, tens of thousands of emails, a detailed medical letter report, all kinds of personal details. Compare everything you know about me with my opponent. I think it’s time he met the same level of disclosure that I have for years.”
Clinton went on to say that she didn’t think her pneumonia was a major deal, and she decided to just “power through it.” But now she regrets not listening to her doctor, who told her (on Friday) to chill out for five days. Clinton then stressed how important she felt it was to pay tribute at the memorial, but now she’s finally resting. That is, despite defending her health on CNN, which sounds exhausting. Cooper also asked Clinton to explain how she felt better so quickly after such a dramatic, obviously concerning situation:
“I could feel how hot and humid it was. I felt overheated. I decided that I did need to leave. And as soon as I got into the air-conditioned van, I cooled off, I got some water, and very quickly, I felt better.”
Also on Monday, Bill Clinton spoke to Charlie Rose about how Hillary has become dehydrated before, but this has only happened a few times over the decades. Well, perhaps Clinton will soon adopt a protective pool after this incident. Her team certainly wasn’t transparent enough on this situation, and they’ll be answering questions for a long time. Whereas everyone’s already brushed away everything Trump has said in the past 48 hours.
Here’s the full Anderson Cooper’s interview with Hillary Clinton.
