Clinton refuses to say when Kaine knew of her pneumonia

Hillary Clinton refused to say when she informed Tim Kaine of her pneumonia diagnosis during a press conference Thursday, instead offering reassurances that she speaks regularly with her running mate and feels “very comfortable and confident about our relationship.”

The former secretary of state was diagnosed with pneumonia last Friday, her campaign said, but that illness was not disclosed until later Sunday after she was forced to leave early from an event commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Video of Clinton departing the event shows her needing help from those around her as she got into the van she traveled home in.


On Monday, Kaine told ABC News that he was informed of Clinton’s diagnosis on Sunday after she left the Sept. 11 event and that it was the first time they had spoken since a joint appearance over Labor Day weekend. But asked Thursday specifically when she told Kaine of the illness, Clinton refused to say.

“My senior staff knew, and the information was provided to a number of people,” she told reporters after a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Look, this was an ailment that many people just power through, and that's what I thought I would do as well. I didn't want to stop, I didn't want to quit campaigning. I certainly didn't want to miss the 9/11 memorial. As a senator at that time, I consider it a sacred moment, and I was determined to get there. It didn't work out, so I got the antibiotics up and going, got the rest that I needed and we're going on from there.”

Clinton was further asked what it might signify for their partnership that she had waited two days to tell Kaine of her pneumonia, to which she responded that she has been in recent communication with the Virginia senator but refused to go into further detail.

“I communicated with Tim, I talked to him again last night. He has been a great partner and he's going to be a great vice president,” Clinton said. “We’ve communicated, but I'm, you know, not going to go into our personal conversations, and I feel very comfortable and confident about our relationship and I really look forward to working with him closely.”