Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook said Clinton tried to "power through" her pneumonia six different times when talking Monday with CNN’s Jake Tapper about her health.
Clinton nearly collapsed on Sunday as she was leaving a Sept. 11 memorial event in New York City. Her campaign released a statement over an hour later saying that she was feeling overheated, but then later announced that she had previously been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.
The Clinton campaign answered questions about the Democratic nominee’s health all over television Monday, saying that she decided to "power through" her sickness and continue campaigning.
Despite footage of Clinton nearly collapsing by her transport van and being held up by her security, Mook repeated the "power through" line that he used in previous interviews on Monday six different times with Jake Tapper:
"She made a decision to just power through this as your opening segment mentioned."
"A lot of people on the campaign have been sick the last few weeks and we’ve decided to power through sometimes to our own detriment."
"Well first of all, as I said on Friday, she made a decision with her doctors to just power through this."
"Well, I think, look, obviously pneumonia is more serious than a cold or flu, but people often go into work and continue to power through when they have pneumonia, when they have a flu, when they have a cold."
"Yes, she developed pneumonia. Yes, she tried to power through it."
"She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday. She decided to power through it."
Mook was not the only person from the Clinton campaign who was repeating the "power through" talking point on Monday. Clinton’s press secretary, Brian Fallon, and her deputy communication director, Kristina Schake, also used the line to discuss Clinton’s health.
Clinton is not the only one from the campaign who is sick, campaign sources told People on Monday. At least half a dozen senior staff members had become ill, including Mook himself.