Hillary Clinton ‘fainting’: Right-wing commentators seize on opportunity to ‘prove’ Democrat is unfit to be president
To some, the incident at the 9/11 memorial service will be seen as solid proof that Ms Clinton has a serious medical condition
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Hillary Clinton’s stumble at the 9/11 memorial service in New York City has been taken as “proof” by some of her opponents that she is unfit to be president, while others have simply said she had a normal reaction in humid weather.
In temperatures close to 30 degrees celsius, Ms Clinton stood for hours as the family members of 9/11 victims reeled off close to 3,000 names of the people who perished on 11 September 2001.
Ms Clinton left the service early, accompanied by her entourage and security guards, and reportedly stumbled as she was carried into a van waiting by the pavement.
Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, once described as the most hated man in America, stood outside her daughter’s apartment shortly afterwards and waited for her to come outside.
“Why are you so sick!” he shouted as she emerged, waving and smiling to the cameras.
Chat show host Piers Morgan described the video of her collapse as “very worrying”.
Reporters approached Donald Trump after the memorial service and asked what he thought about the incident.
He replied that he “didn’t hear anything about it”.
A law enforcement source told the Daily Beast that Ms Clinton left behind a shoe during the ordeal and was thrown into the van "like a sack of meat".
Other people said the claims that Ms Clinton “fainted” were a cover-up, and that the presidential candidate simply had a natural reaction to the hot weather.
Ms Clinton's spokesman, Nick Merrill, quickly released a statement after the incident, saying she attended the ceremony for an hour and a half and left because she felt "overheated".
She is now "feeling much better", he said, and has been taken home to Chappaqua in New York state.
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