Do you remember a few years ago, when droves of conspiracy theorists (so-called “birthers”) accused Barack Obama of being a foreign citizen?
An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama‘s birth certificate is a fraud.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012
Well, they’re still at it. Only this time, the “healthers” have latched on to Hillary Clinton’s (imagined) ill health, according to CNN. This crusade, which aims to convince people that Clinton is suffering from a number of health issues, started way back in 2012, when she fainted due to dehydration and got a concussion. However, there’s no real evidence that Clinton has any serious health problems that would affect her ability to serve as POTUS.
Former mayor of NYC, Rudy Giuliani, accused the media of hiding evidence of Clinton’s health crisis this weekend on Fox News Sunday. He insisted that both her mental and physical health were deteriorating, but offered no legitimate medical evidence to back himself up. Instead, he pointed doubters to Internet videos full of nothing more “unsubstantiated or debunked theories,” NBC News reports. (And don’t forget: this is the guy who said there were no “successful” terrorist attacks on American soil in the eight years before Obama, when he was literally the mayor of New York City on 9/11.)
Press Secretary for the Clinton Campaign Brian Fallon clapped back on Twitter, reminding the world of how Giuliani had to withdraw from the 2000 senate race against Clinton due to his health—he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Google Rudy and health and you can read about how he withdrew from ’00 Senate race against Clinton https://t.co/vkFgjgDBkf
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) August 21, 2016
In 2014, CNN reports, Republican strategist Karl Rove recalled the concussion, suggesting she had been permanently brain damaged as a result, but Clinton’s longtime physician publicly announced her clean bill of health. Even so, a video of Clinton aggressively shaking her head took off as proof that she suffered from seizures, while photo of her being helped up a set of stairs after slipping was supposed to show how weak she was. In one photo, a Clinton secret service agent is holding a flashlight—which conspiracy theorists said was a syringe of anti-seizure medication.
Clinton, for her part, responded to the unfounded claims on Jimmy Kimmel, calling it all a “wacky strategy.” “…just say all these crazy things and maybe you can get some people to believe you.”