Clinton on pneumonia: It 'finally got some Republicans interested in women's health'

For Hillary Clinton, there was at least one upside to the brouhaha surrounding her pneumonia diagnosis and brief absence from the campaign trail.

"I'm thrilled to be with you. I'm thrilled to be associated with you. I'm also thrilled to be back on the campaign trail. As the world knows, I was a little under the weather recently," Clinton said, as she began her remarks Friday at the Black Women's Agenda Symposium workshop in Washington.


Clinton continued, joking, "The good news is, my pneumonia finally got some Republicans interested in women's health."

"Now looking back, I know I should have followed my doctor's orders to rest, but my instinct was to push through it," Clinton said, five days after leaving a Sept. 11 memorial at Ground Zero and nearly collapsing as she was led into a van.

Her campaign did not disclose her pneumonia diagnosis from last Friday until after the incident, prompting greater scrutiny of her health.

"That is what women do every single day. And I felt no different," Clinton said. "Life has shown us that we do have to work harder at the office while still bearing most of the responsibilities at home. That we always need to keep going because our families and our communities count on us. And I think it is more than fair to say that black women have an even tougher road."