Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager declined Monday to say whether he knew last week that the Democratic nominee had been diagnosed with pneumonia, but the campaign’s spokesman claimed her top aides knew immediately of her health concerns.
Robby Mook was asked repeatedly by MSNBC’s Kate Snow on Monday whether he knew last Friday that Clinton had come down with pneumonia.
“Did you know on Friday, Robby, that she was ill? Did you know that she had the diagnosis of pneumonia, and, if so, what did you advise her to do?” Snow asked Monday.
Mook responded, “She obviously saw the doctor on Friday. Got the diagnosis of pneumonia. And in consultation with her doctor, she decided to power through that.”
“Did you know?” Snow persisted.
“I am not going to get into details about who knew her medical information. She made a determination that she will power through this, she didn’t want to affect anything,” Mook said.
Snow pressed, “I ask because you are the campaign manager. You are the one in charge of this schedule, and what she’s doing, and I wonder if you did know, would you have advised her to take a couple days down and not plan this trip to California today?”
“Let’s just say I’m am happy that she’s getting some much needed down time now. She’s looking forward to getting back out on the trail very soon,” is all Mook would say.
However, hours prior to Mook’s appearance on MSNBC, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon claimed her top aides knew of her diagnosis when it was handed down.
“The senior staff was aware on Friday and then word spread in the campaign after that,” Fallon said in an interview on CNN.
Clinton appeared to pass out this weekend after she abruptly exited a 9/11 memorial service in New York City. The Democratic nominee was recorded outside the event Sunday afternoon collapsing, knees buckling, as her aides helped her get into a van.
Her campaign revealed after the incident that she was diagnosed last week with pneumonia. Her team only admitted this after it claimed first that Clinton had merely “overheated” at the memorial event. Her campaign also only admitted to her pneumonia diagnosis after she disappeared for 90 minutes Sunday, leaving the press totally in the dark as to her whereabouts.
