Sabotaged by Poor Health

“I don’t know why they are saying this. On the one hand, it’s part of the wacky strategy, just say all these crazy things and maybe you can get some people to believe you.” That’s what Hillary Clinton said about the rumors she has health problems, while on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Aug. 22. Three weeks later, she nearly collapsed trying to climb into her SUV, and only avoided falling on the ground because of her bodyguard’s help.

A series of scandals about various illnesses stretches back to 2012, when Clinton fainted due to an infection, resulting in a concussion. Doctors established that the impact caused a blood clot. For a long time, it was customary to treat people who think Hillary has serious health problems with light derision. They said that those are the guys who believe in a global Zionist conspiracy, deny the official version of the events of 9/11 and think Barack Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya who is now the president illegally.

This is partially justified: “alt-right” sources debated whether the former secretary of state had an epileptic seizure during a conversation with journalists in July and whether it was true that during one of her speeches, her personal bodyguard had a syringe with Diazepam, an anti-seizure medication. All of these suppositions were disproved by firsthand witnesses, but for proponents of the thesis that “the powers that be cover up everything,” that isn’t proof. There were even quite serious discussions as to whether Hillary’s convulsions were evidence of demonic possession. There was also a version about a system error controlling the “Clinton bot.” They accounted for the current Democratic candidate’s viability in the political arena through the support of a group of powerful families with Jewish last names.

Looking at data from Google Trends, interest in the well-being of the former secretary of defense has been growing since August, but the Clinton campaign joked away any questions or simply referred to medical records, which confirmed the candidate was in excellent health.

Now, a short video on Twitter was able to bring the once fringe theory out from the depths of ultra-right wing websites to the center of collective discussion. There were items on CNN, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, NBC News, the Chicago Tribune and many others.

There can no longer be any doubt: in front of everyone, Clinton left the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony and then almost fainted; from overheating, the official story went. After a few hours at her daughter’s apartment, she came out in public, had a photo taken with a little girl, shouted to journalists that she feels great, noted that the weather in New York is beautiful, then left. Afterward, her campaign headquarters admitted that Clinton had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday and that her doctor advised the candidate to take it easy. It looks like Clinton’s secrecy and reluctance to speak to the press played a cruel joke on her.

After the former secretary of state was urgently carted away from the memorial ceremony, journalists were not allowed to follow her. For a long time, no one knew what was going on. They were only told about the “heat stroke” an hour and a half after the incident. But no details or evidence were given; the campaign asked everyone to take their word for it.

But it won’t work this time. Even if these coughing fits could have been dismissed as insignificant, when a person loses consciousness after an hour and a half ceremony in 28 degree weather (82 degrees Fahrenheit), it creates a lot of serious questions, for which the American public would like to get detailed, documented answers.

Against this backdrop, Republican candidate Donald Trump behaved surprisingly intelligently and correctly: he ordered his underlings not to call attention to his opponent’s health, and himself wished that Hillary get well soon. This is a significant contrast to his earlier comments, when he tirelessly scolded Clinton and insisted that she is physically incapable of fighting the enemies of the United States and performing the duties of the president.

The billionaire promised to publish his complete medical information; however, for now he only has presented the public with a quite comical letter from his friend, Dr. Harold Bornstein. The doctor discovered that Trump’s lab “test results were astonishingly excellent,” that “his physical strength and stamina are extraordinary … If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” insisted Bornstein.

Hillary Clinton’s health faltered at the worst possible moment. In August, she almost never came out in public, instead choosing to concentrate on fundraising. Her campaign’s plan was this: Trump, with his wild temperament and inability to hold his tongue, will dig his own grave; by contrast, Clinton appears as an intelligent and reasonable politician. At the beginning, the strategy worked, and the former first lady’s aides foresaw a decisive victory.

However, Donald Trump cracked this maneuver. At the beginning of August, he hired sociologist Kellyanne Conway, who went on to head up his campaign. Despite a series of scandals, some of which still occurred that month, she was able to convince Trump to be more restrained, which was immediately reflected in survey results: the Republican’s ratings crawled upward.

Clinton has tried to take back the initiative, but things are going badly for her in September: on the evening of the 9th, she declared that half of Trump’s supporters are deplorable racists, homophobes, Islamophobes, sexists and other bad people. This statement earned the ire of almost the entire Republican Party, which hadn’t been able to unite itself for a long time due to the controversial nature of its nominee.

Thus, Clinton’s fainting spell confirmed Trump’s suggestion that the ex-secretary of state was unable to lead the country, and the one and a half hour silence after that incident finally confirmed another Republican thesis: the Democrats and their candidate are afraid of the media, and seek to keep many things from the average voter.

One could say Clinton and Trump have switched roles, and now it is the former secretary of state who is digging her own grave. All that’s left is to hope that her health won’t actually let her down in the end. Both candidates have similar levels of public support coming up to the debates, which will start on Sept. 26.