Ange-Marie Hancock, The Hill – September 18, 2016
The narratives surrounding Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis and her health this week have been filtered through the routine partisan lenses. Very little has been said about how her insistence on toughing it out until a sick day was unavoidable is not simply the American way, but an American woman’s way of navigating gendered health dynamics in the United States.
Rebecca Onion, Slate – September 16, 2016
The cover of this week’s National Enquirer features a wan, gray Hillary Clinton, looking like she has been drained of all her vital fluids. The photograph, if you can call it that, is a perfect visual artifact of the recent storm of right-wing rumormongering over Clinton’s health, which spilled into the mainstream media this past weekend when Clinton revealed a pneumonia diagnosis that would keep her off the campaign trail for a few days while she underwent treatment.
Nick Gass, Politico – September 15, 2016
Donald Trump brushed aside a question Thursday as to whether Hillary Clinton would have the “stamina” to debate him in the upcoming events and campaign through Election Day.
Melissa Harris Perry, Elle – September 14, 2016
I suspect Hillary makes the decision not to reveal her illness, not to rest, not to say she needs a break, because she knows how easy it is to label her as weak. We so rarely suggest that girls might be able to lead, we are not sure what women’s leadership looks like. We haven’t mentioned that women’s leadership will include having the flu now and then.
Richard Cowan, Reuters – September 13, 2016
It was classic Hillary Clinton, ignoring medical advice and attending a ceremony on a sultry New York City day while battling pneumonia – a decision ex-aides and other associates speculated was rooted in her longstanding desire to prove that women can compete in the male-dominated world of politics.
Jill Filipovic, Cosmopolitan – September 13, 2016
Donald Trump hates weaklings. “Weak” remains one of his favorite Twitter insults, and one he has lobbed repeatedly at his opponent Hillary Clinton in stump speeches. “She’s weak. She’s a weak person. I know her. She’s a weak person,” he said about Clinton at an August rally in Des Moines. And later, in Wisconsin, “In one way she’s a monster,” Trump said. “In another way she’s a weak person. She’s actually not strong enough to be president.” He has speculated wildly about her health, fueling rumors that she’s secretly ill; in the meantime, the only proof of his own health he offers is a bizarre letter from a physician who later said he dashed it off in about five minutes, and of course his own obvious, orange-tinged virility.
Emily Crockett, Vox – September 13, 2016
Raising questions is a basic, essential part of journalism. But when it comes to Clinton, sometimes those questions seem more like concern-trolling — using questions as a tool of shame rather than to seek genuine enlightenment. It can even play into toxic conspiracy narratives. And that, in turn, raises questions about the gender dynamics at play.
Maggie Haberman, New York Times – September 12, 2016
The topic of Hillary Clinton’s health, about which her opponent, Donald J. Trump, and his supporters have raised questions for months, was thrust into the center of the campaign on Sunday, after the Democratic nominee abruptly left a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony feeling ill. Her aides, who said when she left that she was “overheated,” later provided a doctor’s note saying that she received a diagnosis of pneumonia days earlier and had become dehydrated.
Cat Duffy, Media Matters – September 12, 2016
During the September 12 edition of CNN International’s Amanpour, Amanpour highlighted the sexist nature of the media’s coverage of Clinton’s health, asking “Can’t a girl have a sick day or two” and denounced the way in which “overqualified women hav[e] to try a hundred times harder than unqualified men to get a break or even a level playing field.”
Sam Levine, Huffington Post – September 9, 2016
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said Hillary Clinton is “mentally impaired” during a speech at the Values Voter Summit on Friday. Gohmert said that he didn’t want to make fun of Clinton, then went on to do just that. “You don’t make fun of people who are impaired, have special needs, and whether you like her or not, Hillary Clinton has made clear that she is mentally impaired and this is not somebody you should be making fun of,” Gohmert said to laughter in the audience.