Former Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman did her best Wednesday on MSNBC to defend Hillary Clinton as a champion of working families, but her story about being bloodied by a glass door and still working seemed to spotlight Clinton’s frailty.
Clinton collapsed and nearly fainted as she was being helped into a van on Sunday after she began feeling overheated at the 9/11 memorial in New York City. Her campaign later revealed she had been diagnosed with pneumonia two days earlier. Her campaign’s surrogates have sought to use the term "power through" repeatedly to praise Clinton for attempting to work a tough schedule while feeling ill.
MSNBC did its best to make it seem as if New York was unbearably hot that day, but it was a warm, late summer day.
Andrea Mitchell, who repeated the "power through" talking point during the interview, asked Sherman whether Clinton should take more time off the trail.
"Hillary Clinton has learned, as I think all women have learned ... that we expect ourselves to just power on through, and it really has taken a lot of discipline on her part to take a couple of days and rest, and to really try to get over this pneumonia, which can be treated by antibiotics, but rest does help," she said. "So I give her a lot of credit for really going against the grain."
Sherman said she recognized early in her career that she needed to "power on through." As an example, Sherman said, during Iran nuclear deal negotiations, she walked into a glass door and "blood spurted everywhere." Her staff wanted to call an ambulance.
"I said ‘No. You’re clearly not a mother. Kids and broken noses and bleeds happen all of the time. Just get me an ice pack,’" she said. "I went on, had the call with Secretary [John] Kerry, went on my with my job, didn’t blink."
Sherman called her story "quite usual." She also highlighted how Clinton, who is a multimillionaire with a private plane and multiple residences, does have the luxury to take days off, unlike struggling working mothers.
"We, as particularly working mothers know, actually, you’re not allowed to get sick, because your kids depend on you. Your family depends on you," she said. "And I know that if Hillary Clinton were sitting here, she would say she’s lucky, because even as a presidential candidate, she’s able to take a day or two to get rest. Most moms are not. They don’t have the sick leave they need or they’ve used it up taking care of their kids or their elderly parent."