Hillary Clinton says Trump’s Covid-19 ‘not comparable’ to her 2016 pneumonia

Former White House candidate calls cases ‘apples and oranges’

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Saturday 10 October 2020 02:12 BST
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Trump coughs during Fox News interview

Hillary Clinton says there is no comparison between her 2016 campaign health issues and Donald Trump testing positive for Covid-19.

The former Democratic presidential nominee was diagnosed with pneumonia during her White House run against Mr Trump.

Ms Clinton was caught on camera stumbling and appeared to almost faint at a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York City.

“It’s apples and oranges, completely. When I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, I was immediately put on antibiotics,” Ms Clinton told The Atlantic.

“I was told that I was not contagious, and I tried to go on with my schedule. I don’t even think it’s comparable.

“We have an infectious, contagious disease that has already killed more than 210,000 Americans, and the contrast between what one would expect a leader to try to model between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is literally night and day. And it’s heartbreaking to me.”

Ms Clinton’s remarks came as Mr Trump announced he would hold an in-person event at the White House on Saturday before traveling to Florida for a Monday campaign rally.

The president spent three days at Walter Reed Medical Center last week after announcing that he and first lady Melania had both contracted the virus.

Mr Trump returned to the White House on Monday evening and received heavy criticism for taking off his mask immediately.

He then refused to isolate in the White House and returned to work in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Since the president announced he had contracted Covid-19 senior members of his administration, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Stephen Miller also tested positive.

More than 212,000 people have died in the US from coronavirus, while more than 7.6 million cases have been reported.

“I don’t really have anything to contribute to the ongoing saga of why he behaves the way he does, and why he treats people the way he does, and why he won’t listen to people who actually know something,” added Ms Clinton.

"It’s pretty distressing on all fronts.”

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