Hillary Clinton’s Biggest Problem Is Dishonesty, Not Pneumonia

Yesterday, the world looked on aghast when Hillary Clinton was lead from the 9/11 memorial ceremony in Manhattan. Clinton was helped to a waiting secret service automobile, and video emerged that appeared to show Clinton’s knees buckling and her having to be helped into the vehicle by aides and agents. In recent weeks, Clinton’s presidential opponent Donald Trump questioned whether or not Clinton was well enough to become commander-in-chief.

https://youtu.be/-1pOAzFSqVs

As reported by BBC News, the role of a U.S. president is tough. Not only does the president have a political role, he or she is also the de-facto head of state. Clinton turns 69-years-old next month, and many believe that she could be hiding health issues from the American people. Long hours and tough decisions await Clinton should she win the presidential race, and the people she represents expect their president to be healthy and fit enough to be the leader of the free world.

People around the world are concerned for Clinton’s health and have every sympathy for the current presidential frontrunner. That said, the Telegraph claims that while the American people would not want to see a sickly candidate gain the keys to the White House, it is Clinton’s lack of transparency about the issue that will hurt her in the longer term.

Shortly after Clinton took ill, we were told that she was suffering from the heat. Clinton then made an appearance outside her daughter’s New York apartment to tell the assembled media that she was “feeling great.”

A close up of Hillary Clinton's collapse shows her foot dragging and unresponsive suggesting lack of consciousness https://t.co/2RIsuDzB9X

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 11, 2016

Just hours later, we were informed that Clinton was suffering from pneumonia, a condition that was diagnosed several days earlier. This, the Telegraph claims, means that Clinton lied and was caught out by her own deception.

“The string of deceptions surrounding Clinton’s health is reminiscent of her email problems, the Lewinsky affair, and a host of other challenges that the Clinton family has obfuscated its way through. Keen-eyed observers sensed there was something wrong when Mrs Clinton kept coughing in speeches and interviews. At first she laughed that off, called it a conspiracy theory.

“Then she admitted that she had allergies – nothing serious. Then came the fall on 9/11. Suddenly she admitted that she had pneumonia. So this story isn’t just about health. It’s about integrity.”

Clinton’s biggest problem is not her illness — it is her apparent lack of ability to be straight with people, an accusation that Donald Trump has thrown at Clinton on numerous occasions. With the presidential race entering the final straight, it is probably fair to say that Clinton and her team would be keen to suppress any sign of weakness in an effort to avoid hurting Clinton’s numbers. Instead, Clinton decided to keep her illness secret and carried on with her engagements. Sadly for Clinton, that decision may well come back to haunt her on polling day.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall & all the King's horses & all the king's men said Humpty was doing just fine https://t.co/TSPbdAlPEy

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) September 11, 2016

One should not underestimate the importance that voters put on having a president who is fit and well enough to do what is arguably the most difficult job on the planet. Had Clinton been open about her pneumonia and taken a few days away from campaigning to recover, she may well have suffered a dip in her ratings. Sadly for the Clinton camp, they are now in a damage control situation, where both Clinton’s health and her integrity are in question once again.

According to the New York Times, Mrs. Clinton’s doctor released a statement saying that Clinton was “rehydrated and recovering nicely.”

“Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies. On Friday morning, after a prolonged cough, Mrs. Clinton was given a diagnosis of pneumonia.

“She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. At this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated.”

Clearly, Clinton made the decision to carry on with her gruelling campaigning and was anxious not to lose further ground to Donald Trump. Clinton’s lead in the polls has been narrowing in recent weeks, so Clinton would not have wanted to lose valuable campaign time. By making the choices she did, the Telegraph argues that Clinton played into Trump’s hands.

Now, Clinton has to overcome the questions about her health, lost campaign time, and been caught misleading the media and the American people. Many will now feel that Clinton has handed Trump the November election on a plate. It will require the sort of spin that may have been common on TV’s The West Wing, but rarely happens in real life, to see Clinton emerge from this fiasco unscathed.

The irony is that Donald Trump does not even have to make any political capital from Clinton’s health scare. He can simply sit back and smile because Clinton has done her own campaign more damage than any opponent could ever have done. We simply have to wait and see how quickly Clinton’s health recovers, and it is likely that it will be faster than the damage to her reputation.

UK tabloid the Sun is even claiming that the Democrats are to hold an emergency meeting to consider replacing Clinton. In this crazy presidential race, we may even see Bernie Sanders step in to replace Clinton.

[Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]