Clinton on pneumonia: I didn’t think it’d be a big deal
Hillary Clinton said Monday night that she didn’t disclose her pneumonia diagnosis to the public because she didn’t feel it was especially notable.
“I just didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal. … It’s just the kind of thing that if it happens to you — and you’re a busy, active person — you keep moving forward,” the Democratic nominee said in a phone interview on CNN.
Clinton was responding to a question from anchor Anderson Cooper about criticism she received for not being transparent about her health.
The day before, Clinton suddenly departed a 9/11 memorial, and video showed her stumbling as she entered her car. The press was initially kept in the dark about what happened. Later, her campaign said she felt “overheated” and then, hours after that, released a statement from her doctor saying she had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.
Cooper noted to Clinton that David Axelrod, a former top adviser to President Obama, had quipped: “Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What’s the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?”
“Doesn’t your handling of this and your campaign’s — 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?” Cooper asked Clinton.
But Clinton argued that she has been far more transparent than Donald Trump. The Republican nominee has refused to release his tax returns, and his health report was written by his doctor in five minutes while a limo waited outside the office, according to the doctor’s own account.
“Oh my goodness, Anderson. 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,” she said.
“You’ve got a medical report on me that meets the same standard as Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Donald Trump’s doctor said he’d be the healthiest president in history. That’s just not even serious,” Clinton said. “If we weren’t fast enough [at disclosing the diagnosis], I’ve talked to my staff, we take responsibility for that. But the information is out there. You can’t say the same thing about Donald Trump,” she continued.
Both Clinton and Trump have said they will disclose more health information in the coming days. Trump, who previously questioned Clinton’s “stamina,” was uncharacteristically silent about Sunday’s incident, only saying that he wished her a speedy recovery.
Clinton canceled a campaign swing through California on Monday and Tuesday. She told Cooper she hoped to get back on the trail in the next couple days.
“Obviously I was supposed to rest five days,” she said. “That’s what they told me on Friday. And I didn’t follow that very wise advice. So I just want to get this over and done with, and get back on the trail as soon as possible.”
Watch the full interview below: