By Olivia Rizzo
Staff Writer
For weeks, Hillary Clinton’s health has been under speculation by critics and supporters alike after the Democratic presidential nominee appeared to have a coughing fit during a campaign appearance on Labor Day. Speculations about Clinton’s health came out in full force after she left a memorial service for the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks early.
Footage quickly circulated on Twitter of Clinton leaving the memorial surrounded by Secret Service agents as she leaned against a security barrier. The video shows that when she steps forward to enter a black van, she is visibly unsteady and falls as agents lift her into the van.
"During the ceremony, she felt overheated, so departed to go to her daughter's apartment and is feeling much better," campaign spokesman Nick Merrill told the Washington Post.
A few hours later, she was seen leaving her daughter Chelsea's apartment where she waved to the crowd and hugged a child before departing in a motorcade.
"I'm feeling great, it's a beautiful day in New York," Clinton said, according to Fox News.
That evening, her campaign revealed that the presidential nominee had been diagnosed with pneumonia Friday, Sept. 9, which, according to her doctor, was the cause of her fainting spell earlier in the day, the Washington Post reported. Clinton then suspended her campaign appearances for four days in order to recuperate from her illness.
Clinton’s health controversy put new pressures on Republican nominee Donald Trump to release his health records. In a letter released by his doctor on Thursday, Sept. 15, Trump was said to be in good health. Trump’s campaign released the records to coincide with his appearance on the “Dr. Oz Show,” according to CNN.
"We are pleased to disclose all of the test results which show that Mr. Trump is in excellent health, and has the stamina to endure — uninterrupted — the rigors of a punishing and unprecedented presidential campaign and, more importantly, the singularly demanding job of President of the United States," the statement read, according to CNN.
According to CNN, the use of the word “stamina” is very interesting due to the fact that it is a word that Trump has used regularly to attack Clinton. Although Trump took a few days off from discussing Clinton’s health after the announcement of her diagnosis, he was back to raising questions about her health on Wednesday, Sept. 14, during a rally in Ohio.
Clinton also released a record of her health on that same Wednesday, which detailed her pneumonia diagnosis, and the results of a regular physical exam, according to CNN.
