Hillary Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, according to her doctor, who made the statement Sunday following the Democratic presidential candidate’s collapse at the 9/11 memorial in New York.

Dr. Lisa Bardack, Clinton’s personal doctor since 2001, released a statement through the Clinton campaign which said the former secretary of state had been diagnosed with pneumonia during a follow-up examination regarding her prolonged cough.

Dr. Lisa R. Bardack, M.D., Clinton's doctor, says the Democratic nominee has pneumonia. Full statement: pic.twitter.com/qloLbhjdZy — Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) September 11, 2016

Clinton has been “advised to rest and modify her schedule,” and was put on antibiotics on Friday, Bardack said.



“She is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely,” said the doctor, referring to the earlier explanation of “overheating and dehydration” given for Clinton’s abrupt departure from the 9/11 commemoration event.

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The media expressed suspicion over Clinton’s exit from the event after there were accounts that she had stumbled and had to be helped into her car. Video footage later emerged corroborating this.



“Secretary Clinton attended the September 11 Commemoration Ceremony for just an hour and 30 minutes this morning to pay her respects and greet some of the families of the fallen,” campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said. “During the ceremony, she felt overheated so departed to go to her daughter’s apartment, and is feeling much better.”



The candidate was driven to her daughter Chelsea’s home. She later appeared outside and was driven to her own home in Cappaqua.

What impact will this have on #hillaryclinton's campaign? Видео опубликовано RT (@rt) Сен 12 2016 в 4:09 PDT

Clinton’s diagnosis has already thrown her scheduled campaign appearances into disarray.



An HRC campaign official confirmed to Reuters that Clinton canceled her Monday morning trip to California because of her illness. She was set to appear at events in both San Francisco and Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday, and at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday.

‘Clinton campaign keeps legitimate health questions hushed’

Clinton’s health became the subject of numerous articles and conspiracies long before the 9/11 episode. Critics have said that the Democratic campaign has failed to be transparent on the subject, adding that this could worsen the impact of the news on the election’s outcome.

Former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT a candidate’s health issues should be deemed a “legitimate question” as the voters are entitled to know if their pick is 100 percent ready for the role. He believes that the US leader should not be “somebody who seems feeble and frail and not up to the job,” adding that Clinton’s health issues are obviously playing to her disadvantage in the presidential race.

Well, pneumonia. That's serious. Campaign kept it hidden Fri/Sat/Sun. No wonder the crazies get traction. Dems are pros at losing elections. — Michael Moore (@MMFlint) September 11, 2016

Jatras believes that despite the current uproar the Clinton campaign is not going to change its tactics and will try to downplay the candidate's health troubles, instead accusing the media of blowing them out of proportion.

“They are going to give out dribs and drabs of information, that try to create the best possible interpretation of her health situation,” Jatras said, adding that Clinton’s team try to “keep a cocoon” out of fear that some unpleasant facts can get leaked to the press.

Everybody knows the Media and Democrats would bury this if the video didn't leak out. #HillarysHealthpic.twitter.com/ip2HOrs1O4 — John Rivers (@JohnRiversToo) September 11, 2016

“What's short-lived in this context is how many episodes have there been that we haven’t seen on camera, we don’t know that anything they are telling us is the truth,” he argued.

Clinton’s diagnosis has reignited the #HillaryHealth trend on Twitter, with both opponents and supporters battling it out in posts and comments about who is now a better fit for president.

Pneumonia is very very serious for a 68 year old woman. #HillarysHealth#ClintonCollapsepic.twitter.com/aQT51OlkvY — Stefan Molyneux (@StefanMolyneux) September 11, 2016

While there was no immediate reaction from Clinton’s Republican rival Donald Trump, he had already used the health issue to score some points, including during Hillary’s recent “hacking,” or coughing, attack.

Mainstream media never covered Hillary’s massive “hacking”

or coughing attack, yet it is #1 trending. What’s up? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2016

Two Trump advisers told WaPo tonight that the candidate & aides are closely monitoring HRC news. But he's not planning to tweet. — Robert Costa (@costareports) September 11, 2016

Mentions of former Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders have re-emerged, with his supporters questioning whether Clinton’s hypothetical exit from the race could enable Sanders to claim his candidacy back. The most hopeful even postulated that Bernie never technically gave up his candidacy when endorsing Clinton.

With much of the Twitter storm descending into a stream of “we told you so” tweets, some also identified a pattern of the Democratic camp downplaying serious Clinton issues, first with her email scandal, and then with her health.

Clinton camp had as much intention of telling us about her pneumonia as they did of telling us about her server. — Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) September 11, 2016

Claims made in 24 hours about #HillarysHealth:



1) She's fine!

2) Just a cough.

3) Overheated.

4) Dehydrated.

5) Pneumonia.



What's next? — Harlan Hill (@Harlan) September 11, 2016

Some became outraged at the scene of pneumonia-stricken Clinton talking with and hugging a little girl seen approaching the candidate during her “I’m feeling great” announcement.

"I have pneumonia, but I'm feeling great! Here, let me hug this little child."#HillarysHealthhttps://t.co/ZKxOTWC1tk — RightWired (@_donaldson) September 11, 2016

Hillary Clinton knew she had Pneumonia (..VERY contagious) Why is she hugging a child for a photo?!😡#HillarysHealthpic.twitter.com/4VuiYuI64N — Tennessee GOP (@TEN_GOP) September 11, 2016

Meanwhile, Hillary’s supporters chimed in arguing that Clinton’s lapse in health does not make Trump a better candidate, as her condition is “curable,” unlike the personality of the flamboyant Republican nominee.

Pneumonia like Hillary's is curable with a little rest! But being a pain in people's ass like Trump is NOT curable! https://t.co/nF3SJCtFpH — E Film Productions (@ERNESTZorro) September 12, 2016

Clinton could be diagnosed with every illness in the medical dictionary and she would still more fit to be POTUS than Trump.#HillarysHealth — James Melville (@JamesMelville) September 11, 2016