Hillary Clinton enters the final two months of the US presidential race clinging to a narrow lead in the polls while battling twin controversies over her health and her criticism of Donald Trump supporters.
Yesterday the former secretary of state unexpectedly left a New York ceremony commemorating the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks after feeling “overheated”, her campaign said.
While awaiting her motorcade, Mrs Clinton reportedly “stumbled off the curb and appeared to faint”, according to an unidentified law enforcement source quoted by Fox News.
Hillary Clinton 9/11 NYC pic.twitter.com/q9YnsjTxss
— Zdenek Gazda (@zgazda66) September 11, 2016
As the Democratic candidate was helped into her van she lost a shoe, which was retrieved by an aide, Fox reported.
Mrs Clinton (68) was driven to her daughter Chelsea’s nearby apartment, where campaign spokesman Nick Merrill later reported that she was feeling “much better”.
Shortly before midday she appeared on television, walking from the building unassisted. “I’m feeling great, it’s a beautiful day in New York,” Mrs Clinton said as she emerged. She smiled and waved to onlookers before entering her vehicle.
Her doctor, Lisa Bardack, said in a statement that she has been experiencing a cough related to allergies and that an examination on Friday showed that she was suffering from pneumonia.
The incident, at least temporarily, eclipsed the fallout from Mrs Clinton’s comments at a fundraiser last week that “half” of Mr Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables” linked to racism, homophobia and Islamophobia.
Sorry for half
On Saturday, Mrs Clinton quickly apologised for saying “half”, though she repeated her indictment of her Republican rival’s extremism.
The former secretary of state enjoys a five-point lead over Mr Trump in a new ABC News/ Washington Post poll released yesterday. By a 46-41 margin, she leads among likely voters in a four-way ballot that includes Libertarian and Green Party candidates.
While Mrs Clinton has consistently led the race, the unpredictable contest is far from over.
“There’s a consensus among the two campaigns right now,” said John Heilemann of Bloomberg Politics. “She is ahead. The race is tightening. He has a very, very narrow path to 270 electoral votes. She has a lot of different paths.”
Republicans take solace from the electorate’s thirst for change and say Mrs Clinton’s broadside about racism and extremism among Trump supporters will further motivate their voters.
“It is resonating,” said Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican and member of the House. “People heard what she said. It was so insulting.”
Low opinion
The Trump campaign pounced on the comment.
“Hillary Clinton’s low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced in the strongest possible terms,” said Mike Pence, Mr Trump’s running mate, speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington.
Mr Trump, a New York businessman who has never run for political office before, regularly says things that many consider insulting, racist or off-colour. On Friday night he told supporters in Pensacola, Florida, that Mrs Clinton could shoot someone and not be prosecuted.
Some critics likened Mrs Clinton’s observation to 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s “47 per cent” comment, in which he said 47 per cent of voters are dependent upon the government and would vote for Barack Obama no matter what. His campaign struggled to recover after the remark leaked.
The weekend’s developments only raise the stakes for the hotly anticipated September 26th presidential debate.
About three-quarters of those surveyed plan to watch the contest, according to ABC News. And 23 per cent say it could have a “major impact” on their decision.
– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016)