Press skittish on Clinton after 9/11 health scare

After Clinton collapsed this weekend outside a 9/11 memorial event in New York City as her aides helped her into her campaign van, her campaign revealed she was diagnosed last week with pneumonia. The Clinton campaign has already canceled her scheduled appearances this week in California.

The collapsing episode this weekend, which was captured on video, has some in media saying Democratic operatives are seriously worried about Clinton’s ability to continue campaigning.

The candidate’s woes have taken “her off of the campaign trail,” political analyst Cokie Roberts said Monday on NPR’s Morning Edition. “It has [members of of the Democratic Party] very nervously beginning to whisper about her stepping aside and finding another candidate.”

Roberts was quick to add, however, “I think it’s unlikely to be a real thing. I’m sure it’s an overreaction about an already-skittish party.”

But another broadcast journalist, David Schuster, reported that a Democratic National Committee delegate told him there is indeed chatter in the party about possibly lining up a replacement candidate.

“Clarification from Dem operatives [Hillary Clinton] pneumonia: Expect emergency DNC meeting to CONSIDER replacement,” he said on social media.

“Top dem: ‘we can make contingencies, argue, plead with [Hillary Clinton], but DNC bylaws are clear her nominee status now totally up to her,” Schuster added.

Many in media remain skeptical of the idea that there is serious chatter about Clinton being replaced as the Democratic Party’s nominee.

“This strikes me as … not super credible, unless there’s more to the story that hasn’t gone public (which none has),” IJ Review’s Justin Green said. “Aside from rumors people float on TV, I have heard nothing more on the secretary’s health beyond her recent diagnosis and doctor letter. We went through a similar round of this with the ‘Is Biden Running?’ crowd, and that definitely happened, so believe what you will.”

Jamelle Bouie, Slate’s chief political correspondent, added, “Folks make this kind of irresponsible speculation and then wonder why no one trusts the press.

Still, Sunday’s incident started a round of discussion in the press about how finding a replacement for Clinton would work.

First of all, the DNC is responsible for choosing a replacement, according to the DNC’s own bylaws.

“The rules do not require that any kind of special consideration be given to Tim Kaine or Bernie Sanders. However, if someone besides Kaine were picked to replace Clinton, Kaine would remain in the VP spot,” Heavy reported.

The report added, “The possibilities of who would replace Clinton would likely be either Tim Kaine, Joe Biden, or Bernie Sanders, although with how crazy this election cycle has been, someone else could certainly be considered.”

Huffington Post contributor H.A. Goodman piggybacked on the replacement chatter by authoring an article Monday titled, “Bring Back Bernie Sanders. Clinton Might Actually Lose To Trump.”

Aside from open discussion about replacing Clinton, Sunday’s episode has also triggered some backlash from the left who said it’s disappointing that Clinton’s team only admitted the pneumonia diagnosis after she was caught on video having a medical problem.

After Clinton was rushed Sunday from the memorial event, she holed up in her daughter’s apartment in New York City for roughly 90 minutes. The press was kept in the dark the entire time, and some said the entire day showed how much Clinton is avoiding the press.

“Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What’s the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?” David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Obama, said Monday on social media.

Clinton campaign spokeswoman Jen Palmieri conceded in a defensive response, “We could have done better yesterday, but it is a fact that public knows more about HRC than any nominee in history.” But Axelrod isn’t alone in his criticism.

Liberal activist Michael Moore said on social media that Clinton’s aversion to the press is making her critics on the right look like they have an argument.

“Well, pneumonia. That’s serious,” Moore said. “Campaign kept it hidden Fri/Sat/Sun. No wonder the crazies get traction. Dems are pros at losing elections.”

NBC News also dinged the Democratic campaign for being less-than-forthright with details of the candidate’s health.

“Clinton’s campaign appears to have, at best, withheld information from the public and — at worst — misled them by aggressively batting down ‘conspiracy theories’ that her coughing fit was anything more than allergies,” NBC reported. “Opponents are already seeing the incident as proof of their claims that Clinton has been hiding health issues. And others may now be more incredulous of the campaign’s statements on her health.”

Along with criticizing the campaign for not being straightforward about the situation, NBC also presented a series of questions that have yet to be answered by the campaign.

Who made the call not to go to the hospital and when?

And did Clinton lose consciousness at all? After leaving the memorial, Clinton went to her daughter Chelsea’s apartment and was later examined by her doctor at her own home in Chappaqua, New York. Why was it decided not to visit a hospital immediately?

Clinton has yet to agree to full “protective pool” coverage, which would allow reporters to follow her door-to-door. Will she now? (Trump, so far, has not allowed for pool coverage, and reporters do not fly with his campaign to events.)

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Will Clinton allow a true protective pool if elected president?

Clinton’s health scare is already expected to potentially affect financial markets, but the impact would be far more dramatic if she were president. A 90-minute window with no news about a missing president could lead people to assume the worst. Clinton’s, or her campaign’s, choice to leave the press pool behind broke with precedent on access—will that change if she’s in the White House? Meanwhile, because Clinton has so far not agreed to full coverage, reporters have no way of knowing if she made other stops Sunday.

Former NBC News correspondent Tom Brokaw advised Monday that Clinton should go to a hospital, and produce further documentation showing a clean bill of health.

“We’re already seeing today the social media activity that is going on. I think that she should go to a hospital, see a neurologist, and get a clean report if it is available,” he said. “This is not something that is going to be dealt with at her daughter’s apartment, in the context of where we are.”

Others in media report that there is frustration aimed at Clinton for the handling of her health issues.

“[M]any in Clinton orbit frustrated at candidate — not her staff,” the New York Times’ Jonathan Martin said.

“Clinton not revealing pneumonia till post-video adds to q’s about transparency,” the Times’ Maggie Haberman wrote separately, adding in a note about Trump to balance out her original thought on the Democratic nominee, “But Trump is not exactly best messenger for transparency.”

“And Clinton’s staff has spent over a year urging her to do things differently in terms of being more open,” Haberman wrote.

Putting questions about Clinton’s long-term health aside, Reuters’ James Oliphant said there is one likely result from what happened this weekend.

“Fair or unfair, this does seem like a little bit of a reset of the race. Will be interesting to see how [GOP nominee Donald Trump] handles himself in coming days,” he said.

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This article has been updated.