The release of a video showing a wobbly Hillary Clinton appearing to faint on Sunday had nothing to do with her campaign’s decision to disclose that she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, her campaign press secretary is claiming.
“If we would have never seen that video, would you have told the American public that she had pneumonia?” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon.
“The video was not necessary to providing that information,” the spokesman replied.
“As it was, she left the event early. We were already being pressed to explain why she left early. And it took us a bit to get that information together to release a statement, and in retrospect, I think we should have provided more information more quickly.”
A Hillary Clinton supporter recorded the candidate as she left a 9/11 memorial event in New York City. Video shows Clinton appear to fall as she attempting to walk to her campaign van. Several aides and Secret Service agents were needed to hold her up and put her into the vehicle.
Though Clinton’s personal physician had diagnosed her with pneumonia on Friday, the campaign did not disclose that information until many hours after Clinton’s spell. The campaign’s initial statement asserted that Clinton left the event early because she “overheated.” (RELATED: People Are Furious That Clinton’s Campaign Lied About Her Health)
The video began to gain traction online only after the Clinton camp began scrambling to tamp down the story. But Fallon insists the footage did not force the campaign to disclose the diagnosis.
“But yes, I think regardless of whether the video surfaced or not, in the aftermath of that event yesterday, I think we would have made the decision to let her rest these next couple days and disclose she was diagnosed with pneumonia Friday,” he told Blitzer.
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