Democrat Hillary Clinton said on Monday she could resume presidential campaigning in a couple of days after a bout of pneumonia that she initially had not believed was “that big a deal.”
Clinton’s health scare after she almost collapsed at an event on Sunday, causing her to cancel some campaign trips, revived concerns about a tendency toward secrecy that has dogged her campaign, and underscored perennial worries about the medical fitness of candidates for one of the world’s most demanding jobs.
“Well, it will be in the next couple of days. … I just want to get this over and done with and get back on the trail as soon as possible,” she said in an interview on CNN on Monday night, adding she had ignored doctor’s orders to rest.
“I just didn’t think it was going to be that big a deal.”
Her campaign acknowledged on Monday it may have been too slow disclosing her pneumonia diagnosis after she nearly fainted at a New York memorial ceremony for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. She was diagnosed with the lung infection on Friday.
“I think that in retrospect, we could have handled it better in terms of providing more information more quickly,” Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told MSNBC earlier in the day.
The health problem was the latest blow for the Democratic presidential nominee at a time when Republican rival Donald Trump has erased most of her lead in national opinion polls and is competitive again in many battleground states where the Nov. 8 election is likely to be decided.
Clinton, 68, said she had dealt with similar episodes of dizziness before. “You know, it is something that has occurred a few times over the course of my life. I’m aware of it and usually can avoid it,” she told CNN.
Asked if she passed out during the incident on Sunday, she said: “No, I didn’t. I felt dizzy and I did lose my balance for a minute. Once I got in. Once I could sit down. Once I could cool off. Once I had some water, I immediately started feeling better.”
Her campaign said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, would campaign on her behalf while she rests.
Both Clinton and Trump, 70, said they intended to release more of their medical details in the coming days, as their campaigns gear up for the November election.