Trump pulls his punches on Clinton's health scare The Republican nominee questions whether something bigger is going on, but mostly stays on message attacking her 'deplorables' gaffe.

After months of driving the narrative that Hillary Clinton is a weak candidate who lacks the strength and stamina to occupy the Oval Office, Donald Trump on Monday let his foot off the gas pedal — at least on the issue of Clinton’s health.

Trump, a candidate who has spent much of his campaign frothing up conspiracy theories about Clinton’s well-being, hit the airwaves on Monday morning after Clinton’s campaign revealed on Sunday that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia, following footage that showed her knees buckling as she was helped into a van.


While Trump did offer some nefarious whispers — “something’s going on” — he mostly stayed on message, wishing Clinton a speedy recovery and strategically hammering her for her “basket of deplorables” gaffe.

“I hope she gets well soon. I don’t know what’s going on,” Trump said Monday during a phone interview with “Fox & Friends.” “I’m, like you, I just — I see what I see. The coughing fit was a week ago, so I assume that was pneumonia also. I mean, I would think it would have been. So something’s going on, but I just hope she gets well and gets back on the trail and we’ll be seeing her at the debate.”

Trump — who has refused to offer up his own full medical records — said he recently had a physical examination and will be releasing the results soon (Trump is scheduled to appear on “The Dr. Oz Show” on Thursday to address “why the health of the candidates has become such a serious issue in this campaign,” as well as “his own personal health regimen.”).

And after frustrating fellow Republicans in the past by passing on opportunities to capitalize on Clinton’s missteps, Trump on Monday morning attacked Clinton for telling a fundraiser on Friday that “half” of Trump’s supporters belong in her “basket of deplorables.”

“Personally, when I heard it, I thought that it was not something that was within the realm of possible that she would have said it, and I said to my people I don’t believe she said it. I think you have to check it because there’s no way she said this,” he recalled during the phone interview with “Fox and Friends.” “And she actually did, and she even really doubled up because it was said with such anger and such unbelievable anger, and I think this is the biggest mistake of the political season. I really do. When I saw this in its full form, and I saw the anger with which she said it, I mean, the way she spoke, I think it’s the single biggest mistake of the political season.”

Trump’s campaign also sought to maximize the fallout from Clinton’s gaffe, which she later half-apologized for (“I regret saying ‘half’ — that was wrong,” she said in a statement on Saturday, while going on to call many of Trump’s actions “deplorable”).

The Republican nominee’s camp released a 30-second spot hitting Clinton over that remark, which it said will run in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.

“These highly offensive and divisive comments reveal the contempt and disgust for everyday Americans that Hillary Clinton has hoped to hide by avoiding the press and running the least-transparent campaign in modern political history,” Jason Miller, Trump’s senior communications adviser, said in a release promoting the ad.

Trump’s relatively restrained behavior on Clinton’s health on Monday was perhaps the starkest example yet of how the brash Republican has changed his posture since the shakeup last month that put pollster Kellyanne Conway at the helm of his campaign, as he shared a rare expression of sympathy over Clinton’s health while also staying on message with the “deplorables” attack.

Trump, however, is such an unconventional candidate that even doing what any typical politician would warrants praise for his discipline. But Trump hasn’t been able to shake off the negative perception of himself or his campaign, as evidenced by his having to stress that he didn’t take any satisfaction in Clinton’s health.

“Well, I don’t take satisfaction, Joe,” Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen during a phone interview with “Squawk Box.” “And, frankly, you know, I hope she gets well and I hope she gets well soon. But, you know, it was quite sad, to be honest with you, and I hope she gets well soon. No satisfaction, believe me, whatsoever.”

And he still showed flashes of his former self, suggesting Clinton has been sick for a while, boasting of his schedule being more grueling than hers and reviving his knock on Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas.”

“You know, it was interesting because they say pneumonia on Friday, but she was coughing very, very badly a week ago. And even before that, if you remember,” Trump said. “This wasn’t the first time. So it’s very interesting to see what is going on. I want her to get better. I want her to get out there. I look forward to seeing her in the debate. I will say this: With the scheduling, you know, if you look at my scheduling and compare it to anybody else’s scheduling, it’s not a contest. You know, I’ve found the whole challenge to be very invigorating.”

Trump did shoot down the notion that the Democratic National Committee would replace Clinton as a candidate over concerns about her health, though, but he insisted he is ready for anything.

“We have to see what’s wrong,” Trump said. “I mean, we have to see what’s wrong. But whatever it is, it is. I’m ready. Whatever it is.”

Clinton’s camp, meanwhile, mostly went dark as Clinton stayed at her Chappaqua, New York, residence to recover for a couple of days instead of flying to California for fundraisers.

Still, they tried to contain the fallout not only from Clinton’s diagnosis, but also from the campaign’s handling of the incident. Clinton’s whereabouts were unknown for a period of time on Sunday after she suddenly left a 9/11 memorial. Her campaign then said she simply “overheated” and was feeling “much better.” It was only after footage emerged of her appearing to swoon and being helped into a van that the campaign revealed that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.

David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s former chief campaign strategist, on Monday morning attacked Clinton’s camp for its secrecy

“Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What's the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?" he tweeted.

After the tweet was widely circulated, Clinton’s camp responded, offering up a partial mea culpa.

“We could have done better yesterday, but it is a fact that public knows more about HRC than any nominee in history,” tweeted Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton campaign communications director, in response to Axelrod.

She then went on to take a shot at Trump: “In contrast to HRC, Trump has been less transparent than any nominee in modern history.”

Conway interpreted the tweets as the Clinton camp playing defense but seemingly agreed on one issue — that voters know enough about Clinton to dislike her and not trust her. “D-E-F-E-N-S-E. Yet, Jen has a point: they know enough about Hillary that they don't like her, don't trust her,” she wrote.