Karl Rove disputes a report that he suggested Hillary Clinton had a "brain injury" from a fall she took in 2012. But that doesn't mean he's not questioning her health. (Via U.S. Department of State)
ROVE: "No, I never used that phrase. Never used that phrase. But look, she had a serious episode — a serious health episode. ... We don't know what the doctors said about what she has to be concerned about. She's hidden a lot of this." (Via Fox News)
Specifically, Rove is referring to Clinton's recovery after she fell at home and doctors discovered a blood clot in her skull. But those doctors have repeatedly cleared the former Secretary of State, saying she's 100 percent. Here's the quote that got Rove in trouble.
Tuesday, New York Post's Page Six reported that, at a public speaking event, Rove said “Thirty days in the hospital? And when she reappears, she’s wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury? We need to know what’s up with that.”
Clinton actually only spent three days in the hospital, though Rove said Tuesday he was more worried about her month-long recovery process. Still, the former Bush strategist is taking a serious drumming in the news cycle. (Via C-SPAN)
NICOLLE WALLACE: “I worked with Karl for a long time. This was a deliberate strategy on his part to raise her health as an issue." (Via MSNBC)
JAY CARNEY: “Here’s what I would say about cognitive capacity, which is that Dr. Rove might have been the last person in America on election night to recognize and acknowledge that the president had won reelection." (Via The White House)
Rove's comments might very well be a purely political move. He's long been accused of dirty politics, including spreading a rumor in 2000 that John McCain had fathered a black love child. (Via CNN)
But if history is any indication, Clinton probably will face some questions over her health, if she does make a run for the White House.
Clinton does not have a history of major health problems, but she'll be 69 years old on election day 2016. That's older than any other newly-elected president in history — (Via U.S. Department of State)
— aside from Reagan, though just barely. He was just days away from turning 70 when he took office. (Via The Reagan Foundation)
Granted, in more recent history, we've had older candidates: John McCain, for one. He was 72 in 2008. And Joe Biden, who many suspect is planning his own campaign, will be 73 in November 2016. (Via CBS, BarackObama.com)
