There’s no confirmation yet that the woman in the clip is her but the guy who recorded it claims it is, and what you’re about to see exactly mirrors what Rick Leventhal reported earlier this morning via law enforcement sources:
BREAKING: law enf source: Hillary Clinton just left 9/11 ceremony w/medical episode, appeared to faint on way into van, helped by security
— RickLeventhalFoxNews (@RickLeventhal) September 11, 2016
Source tells me Hillary Clinton "clearly having some type of medical episode" & had to be helped into van by her protective detail at WTC
— RickLeventhalFoxNews (@RickLeventhal) September 11, 2016
MORE ON #HILLARY per witness: "unexpected early departure"; she stumbled off curb, "knees buckled", lost a shoe as she was helped into van
— RickLeventhalFoxNews (@RickLeventhal) September 11, 2016
He’s not exaggerating about her knees buckling. Just watch below. I thought the spin was going to be that she was “overcome with grief” at the 9/11 commemoration, but her campaign played it safe by claiming she “felt overheated” and left for Chelsea’s apartment to recover. Funny thing: It was in the 70s in New York City this morning with humidity below 50 percent. At a little past noon, it’s 82 degrees. What was she wearing, wool?
There were only two ways this episode could end. One: Bill and Chelsea emerge from the apartment building with Hillary propped between them, “Weekend at Bernie’s” style, insisting she’s fine. Two: Hillary walks out under her own power ASAP and does the big “see how much better I am already?” wave to the media. The result:
Clinton leaves Chelsea's apartment after "overheating."
"I'm feeling great, it's a beautiful day in New York." pic.twitter.com/uKUDhDMfBo
— David Mack (@davidmackau) September 11, 2016
When Hillary emerged from Chelsea's apt., a little girl ran up to her & asked her to pose for a photo. HRC obliged. pic.twitter.com/kyxwMEbiJZ
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 11, 2016
Sending the little girl out for a “spontaneous” photo-op hug was a nice flourish by Team Hillary, I think you’ll agree.
Josh Jordan has the right idea on What This Means. Until now, the “Hillary’s sick!” stuff has consisted mostly of speculation about her concussion — driven in part by Hillary herself — and her coughing fits, which could be explained by something as simple as allergies. Watching her stagger into a waiting van means the media can’t spin her health issues away anymore as the product of Trump’s over-active conspiratorial imagination anymore. In fact, WaPo’s Chris Cillizza, who spent last week claiming that Clinton’s health is a nothingburger compared to the legitimate questions about McCain’s health in 2008, is now pronouncing it a real campaign issue after watching the clip below.
We should all probably start paying much closer attention to Tim Kaine’s policy answers in interviews. Exit question: Why’d they take Hillary to Chelsea’s apartment instead of to a hospital?
Hillary Clinton 9/11 NYC pic.twitter.com/q9YnsjTxss
— Zdenek Gazda (@zgazda66) September 11, 2016
This IS NOT heat related. #HillarysHealth pic.twitter.com/PFNfCEVFrV
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) September 11, 2016
Update: Everything’s fine, huh?
Clinton is heading home to Chappaqua, per the campaign. But the press pool is not being permitted to travel with her.
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) September 11, 2016
Update: Someone in law enforcement told the Daily Beast that Clinton looked pale when she first arrived — which complicates the “overheating” explanation since, presumably, she wasn’t outside much this morning before she got to the ceremony at 9:30 ET. The guy who shot the clip above, Zdenek Gazda, told BuzzFeed that he didn’t notice anything amiss with Clinton as she passed him en route to the van. “She looked like everything was fine and everything was good,” he claimed. But by the time the van pulled up, oh boy.
Update: Yikes.
Update: Ah, looks like the last clip is just original video zoomed in and flipped. Still, the close-up shows better just how wobbly she is.
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