Hillary Clinton’s diagnosis of pneumonia has brought out Fox’s Trump-friendly – but baseless - suggestions that she’s not well enough to serve as president.
On America’s Election Headquarters, Fox News correspondent Kristin Fisher did her best to paint Clinton's illness as a "serious.. medical episode":
FISHER: The Clinton campaign is insisting that Hillary Clinton is just fine, but her health is one of the last things that they want to be talking about, especially now that there’s video showing just how serious this medical episode may have been. Watch as Clinton tries to get inside that black van. She appears to stumble, and then two or three people have to physically help her inside. She was then taken to her daughter Chelsea’s apartment. Now about an hour later we got this statement from the Clinton campaign, it reads, “Secretary Clinton attended the September 11th Commemoration Ceremony for one hour and 30 minutes this morning to pay her respects and greet some of the families of the fallen. During the ceremony she felt overheated so departed to go to her daughter’s apartment and is feeling much better.” And indeed, shortly after that statement came out Clinton herself walked out of her daughter’s apartment and waved to the cameras saying she’s feeling great. So that’s a relief. The problem for Clinton going forward is going to be that this plays right into what Trump and his supporters have been saying for weeks, that perhaps she is not physically fit to be commander-in-chief.
(Transcript via Media Matters, lightly edited and with my emphasis)
Later, Special Report correspondents did their part for The Cause. As anchor Bret Baier introduced the subject, a lower-third banner read, “IN GOOD HEALTH? QUESTIONS RAISED AFTER CLINTON ‘OVERHEATED’”
Correspondent Jennifer Griffin began, “Campaign aides were expecting an October surprise but not one in September!” Griffin helpfully replayed video of Clinton having coughing fits. “She told reporters the cough was due to allergies,” Griffin said ominously.
We also got a clip of Donald Trump saying that Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all of the many adversaries we face.” To underscore the message, the lower third read, “HILLARY CLINTON’S HEALTH: STAMINA QUESTIONS.”
What was not in the report, nor in the next one with correspondent Rick Leventhal, was that there’s no reason not to expect Clinton to soon recover. That information can be found on FoxNews.com:
Hillary Clinton’s diagnosis of pneumonia is a serious concern, but something from which she soon should recover, several doctors and medical experts said Sunday.
[…]
Pneumonia is commonly treated quickly and effectively with antibiotics. Speaking generally and not about Clinton’s case, [Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University] said patients with a mild pneumonia can recover with antibiotics, a few days of rest and good hydration. That’s especially true of someone who does strenuous work, such as a rigorous campaign schedule.
Based on the available information, he said, “this should not in any way impede her function going forward.”
But Leventhal made sure to show a clip of Clinton leaving the 9/11 ceremony “unexpectedly early.” As we saw her van pull up, Leventhal said, “She appears unsteady as she steps off the curb, with aides and her protective detail holding her by the arms. And she stumbles again as she gets close to the van, with one of her shoes falling off before she’s helped inside.”
As he spoke, the lower-third read, “HEALTH QUESTIONS: CLINTON STUMBLES INTO VAN AFTER LEAVING EVENT.”
But that wasn’t all, we also got an eyewitness account of, basically, the same thing, plus the “news” that because Clinton left the ceremony early, she had to wait for her motorcade. “He says he saw her knees buckle and watched as someone picked up her shoe and gave it to agents,” Leventhal added, as if this were information of import.
I’m sure this will only get worse throughout the day and night on Monday.
Meanwhile, watch some of what Fox has done with this story so far, from the September 11 America’s Election Headquarters and Special Report.
That orange popsicle with a hair on it ain’t no model of physical fitness either. If Hillary isn’t hiding anything life threatening, this tempest in a teacup will subside.
Personally, I believe that she chose the wisest path, and nearly pulled it off. We have to remember that there ain’t no way ANY Clinton is ever going to do ANYTHING to please the GOP.
Hillary has to quit being so paranoid and secretive. How hard would it have been to do a press release saying she’s been diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia but hopes continue a full schedule? This is not hindsight but common sense give the faux controversies stirred up about her health. Her campaign knows, at a minimum, she’s going to keep coughing.
At this point she’s painted herself into a corner and will have to do something extraordinary like submit to an independent medical exam to end the hysteria. Because what started off as alt-right crackpot conspiracy theories has blossomed into a msm obsession.
The Donald has run an incompetent campaign but Hillary’s strategy of doing a ‘rope-a-dope’ hoping Trump self-destructs and run out the clock is fraught with danger.
It could be a good chance for Hills to put her feet up for a week and let Bill do the campaigning. He doesn’t need to be as diplomatic as she does, so it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Better now than in a month or so, anyway.