After Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton suffered the worst coughing fit of her campaign Monday, a mysterious man seen by her side for many months on the campaign trail suddenly appeared on her plane.

As WND reported, Clinton suffered two coughing fits on Labor Day – one during a speech in Cleveland, Ohio, and a second one during a press conference on her plane.

In the past, the same man has been spotted helping Clinton up stairs and holding what appears to be a Diazepam pen. Some observers have referred to the man as Hillary's "mysterious handler."

The following image of the man on the plane was posted by the Gateway Pundit blog:

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Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit noted that the man is sometimes dressed like a Secret Service agent, "but his actions prove otherwise."

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For example, during one campaign event at Union Hall, New York, some protesters got rowdy.

"Hillary Clinton suddenly froze," he wrote. "She looked dazed and lost. Seeing this, a group of men rushed to assist the candidate on the stage. One man, however, gently pats the candidate's back and says, 'Keep talking.'"

But, according to the post, "An expert on Secret Service tactics told [the Gateway Pundit] Secret Service agents would not touch a candidate in the manner that this individual did and especially Hillary Clinton. It has been widely reported on Hillary's disdain for the agents who work to protect her. The man who touches Hillary may be a member of Hillary's close staff – but he is NOT a Secret Service agent."

Hoft asked, "Do you think the media will ever ask the campaign about this guy?"

WND did ask the Hillary Clinton campaign about the identity and role of the man in the photos but hadn't received a response at the time of this report.

At an earlier campaign appearance, the same man was reportedly seen carrying a long object that resembled a Diazepam pen.

Also Monday, Clinton was seen spitting a yellow, unidentified object, which may have been a lozenge, into her glass.

Apparently frustrated that it can't shut down news coverage of the recurring coughing fits, the Clinton campaign lashed out at an NBC reporter for daring to broach the subject of Clinton's coughing fits in his news report Monday.

And in an appearance on ABC News that aired Tuesday evening, Clinton running mate Tim Kaine insisted concerns about Clinton's health are "idiotic."

NBC News' Andrew Rafferty wrote the following five-paragraph report about Clinton's severe coughing fit in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday:

Hillary Clinton struggled to fight back a coughing fit while campaigning in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday. "I've been talking so much," Clinton said with a hoarse voice. "Every time I think about Trump, I get allergic." The former secretary of state has suffered from coughing fits at times throughout the Democratic presidential primary. However the frog in Clinton's throat on Monday was one of the most aggressive she's had during her 2016 run and left her almost unable to finish her remarks. After the event, campaign aides attributed it to allergies.

Though Rafferty's report was short and straightforward, the reporter received a harsh rebuke from Clinton's traveling press secretary, Nick Merrill.

Merrill blasted Rafferty on Twitter Monday, telling the NBC reporter to "Get a life."

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President Obama's former speechwriter, Jon Favreau, asked, "Is there anyone at NBC, or anywhere else, who's willing to defend this story?"

In his Washington Post piece titled, "Can we just stop talking about Hillary Clinton's health now?" Chris Cillizza said the questions about Hillary's heath "are absurd": "This is a totally ridiculous issue – for lots of reasons – and one that if Trump or his Republican surrogates continue to focus on is a surefire loser in the fall."

Rafferty isn't the first media personality to face attacks for merely discussing the issue of Clinton's health.

CNN "network honchos" reportedly "acted like the mafia" when they confronted the famous Dr. Drew Pinsky for raising the topic on a radio show, according to the New York Post's Page Six.

As WND reported, Dr. Drew's television show on the HLN cable network, "Dr. Drew on Call," was canceled eight days after he raised questions about Clinton's health in an interview on KABC-AM in Los Angeles. HLN is the sister channel of CNN.

Dr. Drew has refused to blame Clinton and her supporters for the cancellation of his popular show.

But a source told Page Six CNN network officials relentlessly pursued Dr. Drew for a retraction.

"CNN is so supportive of Clinton, network honchos acted like the mafia when confronting Drew," said the source, who is close to Dr. Drew. "First, they demanded he retract his comments, but he wouldn't."

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According to the report, "What followed was a series of nasty phone calls and emails."

The source called the CNN officials' behavior "downright scary and creepy."

GOP nominee Donald Trump, however, has insisted the story surrounding Clinton's health has been ignored by the mainstream media even though concerns have gone viral on social media and alternative news sites.

"Mainstream media never covered Hillary's massive 'hacking' or coughing attack, yet it is #1 trending. What's up?" Trump tweeted Tuesday.

Many tweeters have been using the Twitter hashtag, #HackingHillary, to post comments about Clinton's health.

Even Hollywood actor and producer James Woods chimed in, expressing his concerns and launching the Twitter hashtag #HerHackingHighness.

"I feel badly she's obviously very sick, but she can't responsibly be president with serious health problems," Woods tweeted Monday.

Also on Tuesday, Trump told ABC News he will release his full medical records. In the ABC appearance Tuesday evening, Clinton defended her own health record and questioned that of Trump's. She claimed a short 2015 letter she provided from her personal internist, Dr. Lisa Bardack, is sufficient to show she's physically healthy enough to be president.

"What we have released is commensurate with what others who have been nominated for president have released. And we followed closely what the format was; we put out the information,” she said.

Clinton attacked Trump's own health letter as "devoid of information." She said the doctor who wrote it "basically [said] he did it in five minutes, because the 'limousine was waiting.'"

Related column:

Hey, Hillary, use a peanut butter jar next time by Jane Orient, M.D.

In a Monday column published on WND, Dr. Jane M. Orient, M.D., questioned the short letter concerning Clinton's health.

"So far, I have not seen a doctor putting his reputation on the line by writing, 'I have read all the available medical reports and looked at the photographs and videos, and my diagnosis is that Mrs. Clinton is in fine health.,'" Dr. Orient wrote. "No doctor has said, 'If I were at an event and saw someone displaying the signs captured on video, I would ignore it. I would not bring the person a chair, or ask, 'Are you OK?' or make sure she had a ride home.'"

Dr. Orient reviewed Bardack's letter as if it concerned a hypothetical case of a patient named Mary Jones, who needs medical clearance to drive a school bus.

"In the actual record, as opposed to a summary letter, I’d expect to find a weight. Photographs show evidence of substantial rapid weight gain. If true, it requires an explanation," Dr. Orient wrote. "Since Mrs. Jones has had dizziness and falls, did the doctor check her blood pressure and pulse lying down and then standing up?"

Noting that Clinton is taking the blood thinner Coumadin for recurring clotting problems, Dr. Orient asked: "How often is the INR (a measure of clotting function) checked? Has Mrs. Jones been instructed about Coumadin interactions with some 800 drugs as well as fruits and vegetables (kale, avocado, grapefruit, etc.), alcohol and herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, etc.)? The INR can change unexpectedly, but even if stable and within the desired range, the patient is at risk of clotting or hemorrhage."

Dr. Orient continued:

"About that transverse sinus clot: How does Dr. Bardack know it completely dissolved? It usually doesn’t. Did Mrs. Jones have a venogram or MRV? Veins are often damaged by a thrombus – a patient might have a swollen ankle for life. A swollen brain can be fatal. With impaired venous drainage from the brain, a patient gets intracranial hypertension. Symptoms include headache, double vision, visual impairment, nausea and vomiting and dizziness. The record should contain a good eye exam, looking for swelling of the optic nerve head. But many patients (maybe 90 percent) with intracranial hypertension don’t show that. The definitive test is a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to measure opening pressure. But no one is going to do an LP in somebody who’s on Coumadin. "And the severe concussion? How is Dr. Bardack sure there is no persistent brain damage? Has Mrs. Jones had formal cognitive testing, as done in athletes? Has anything changed on a more recent examination? Has she had an MRI with DTI, which shows connecting pathways in the brain? Have reports of confusion or difficulty arousing her from a nap been investigated? "Then some videos have led some to suspect seizures, a known complication of traumatic brain injury. Was an EEG done ... ? "And did Dr. Bardack’s “normal physical examination” include a detailed neurologic exam? Did the doctor check eye movements, gait, Romberg sign (ability to stand with feet together and eyes closed), muscle strength, motor coordination, vibratory sensation, normal and potential abnormal reflexes, memory, etc.? Did she obtain a neurology or neurosurgery consult?"

Orient concluded, "If Dr. Bardack did not check for all these things, I’d judge her evaluation of Mrs. Jones for driving a school bus to be inadequate. I challenge any doctor to say that any one of these items is unimportant in a person with Mrs. Clinton’s history and recently reported signs who aspires to a position as a bus driver – or U.S. president."