Hillary Clinton is resuming campaigning after pneumonia forced her to take time off, and a top aide said the Democratic candidate’s presidential campaign would have to work harder because a candidate as controversial as Republican Donald Trump makes it “harder to be heard”.
In the final stretch before the November 8 election, Clinton was slated to attend a rally in North Carolina and speak at a dinner in Washington.
The 68-year-old had rested at her home in Chappaqua, New York, for three days after being diagnosed with pneumonia and falling ill at a September 11 memorial ceremony on Sunday.
With the candidates’ health in the spotlight, Trump, 70, released yesterday details of a recent physical examination, a day after Clinton released details on her medical condition.
Top aide Jennifer Palmieri said “one upside” of Clinton’s unplanned break was the chance to “sharpen the final argument Clinton will present to voters in these closing weeks”.
“Our campaign readily admits that running against a candidate as controversial as Donald Trump means it is harder to be heard on what you aspire for the country’s future, and it is incumbent on us to work harder,” Palmieri said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign said the results of his physical showed the 70-year-old fast-food fan has normal cholesterol with the help of a statin drug, weighs 236 pounds (107kg) and has normal blood pressure.
In a not-so-subtle slap at Clinton, the Trump campaign said that the medical report showed Trump “has the stamina to endure – uninterrupted – the rigours of a punishing and unprecedented presidential campaign and, more importantly, the singularly demanding job of president of the United States”.
Clinton’s health scare forced her to cancel a two-day swing through California this week and send her husband, former president Bill Clinton, to a Las Vegas campaign rally in her stead.
It also interrupted a series of speeches in which she had planned to refocus her campaign on what she would do for the country after a period when she attacked Trump as a dangerous, unprepared candidate.
Clinton’s speech in Greensboro, North Carolina, will focus on how she plans to make sure “every child has the chance to live up to their God-given potential”, Palmieri said.
The former secretary of state, US senator from New York and first lady will deliver speeches in the coming days on the economy and national service, her campaign said.
Last week, she discussed her religious faith in Kansas City, Missouri.
In a move to jump-start momentum, Clinton’s campaign announced yesterday that US Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont will campaign for her tomorrow in the battleground state of Ohio.
Warren is a progressive leader within the Democratic Party, and Sanders waged a hard-fought primary race against Clinton.
At events aimed at younger voters, both will discuss Clinton’s plan to reduce college tuition costs.
Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis came at inopportune time for the candidate, who spent the bulk of August fundraising in wealthy US enclaves such as the Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard, with only intermittent campaign events.
Her strong lead over Trump in most opinion polls after the party-nominating conventions in July narrowed throughout August.
A New York Times/CBS News poll released yesterday showed Clinton had the support of 46% of likely voters nationwide, with 44% backing Trump.
States such as Ohio and Florida, which do not lean heavily Democratic or Republican, are no longer considered likely wins for Clinton, according to the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project released on Saturday.
Trump backers on Capitol Hill said they were heartened by the tightening race after a call yesterday morning with Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who mapped out what the campaign was doing and promised a more policy-driven approach in the race’s final stretch.
“The poll numbers are just looking phenomenal as you move away from registered voters to likely voters,” US Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas said.
On Wednesday, Clinton released a letter from her physician, Dr Lisa Bardack, to dispel rumours about her health.
The letter detailed her pneumonia diagnosis and declared her fit for the presidency.