During the 9/11 memorial service in New York City on Sunday, Hillary Clinton fell ill and left early. She emerged hours later from her daughter’s apartment in stride. She posed for a picture with a young girl and reassured reporters that she was feeling great.
The Clinton campaign released a statement 90 minutes after her premature exit from the memorial. “Secretary Clinton attended the September 11th Commemoration Ceremony for just an hour and thirty minutes this morning to pay her respects and greet some of the families of the fallen. During the ceremony, she felt overheated, so departed to go to her daughter’s apartment and is feeling much better,” Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman, said.
This event prompted media attention on her morning whereabouts and the state of her health. Many supporters and opposers alike were asking the same question: Is Clinton healthy enough for the job?
There is no concrete evidence that Clinton’s health is in peril. Coughing fits and overheating don’t mean life threatening illnesses. If that was the case, most Americans would be suffering from life threatening illnesses. Also, she’s 68 years old. She’s in a different city every five seconds, sleeping in hotels, giving speeches and running for the President of the United States. Traveling takes a toll on the immune system. So does shaking hands with hundreds of people every day. Hand sanitizer is only so powerful. I can barely keep myself healthy as I go to class, work, internship and football games. I’m 48 years younger, too.
It’s not wrong to question Clinton’s health. It’s also not exactly right to, either. It’s important that a healthy candidate is elected into office considering it’s a four year term. Not exactly a long time but also not the shortest one. But when you go into a job interview, do you hand over your medical records? Do you list out every ailment you’ve ever had? I know if I had to do that, I would probably never get a job.
The real question we should be asking is not about the state of Clinton’s health but where to draw the line when it comes to giving candidates the type of privacy we as citizens of the United States fight so hard to keep precious.
Image Credit: Andrew Harnik- AP