US News

Hillary Clinton can’t stop coughing during speech

WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton suffered from a coughing spell in the middle of a speech before Iowa voters Monday.

The coughing fit lasted for more than a minute as the former Secretary of State spoke to the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines about the Iran nuclear deal that she supports.

She took a sip of water, reached for a throat lozenge and blamed the fit on her busy campaign schedule.

“You do talk a lot in this campaign,” Clinton told the crowd to laughter.

It was her first of four public events in Iowa Monday – a week before the critical Iowa caucuses where she’s in a dead heat in the polls with Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Excuse me just one second,” Clinton said as she unwrapped a lozenge amid coughs – not always covering her mouth.

Clinton continued with a strained voice and fielded questions from the audience on healthcare, equal pay and college debt.

By her second event of the day in Knoxville, Clinton’s voice had returned. The cough reappeared at times, but not as dramatically.

It’s not for the first time Clinton had a coughing spell at a public appearance.

Amid her 11-hour Benghazi testimony before Congress in October, she broke out into choking fit toward the end of her marathon testimony, prompting a congressman to question whether she needed a break.

“No, I just need to grab a lozenge,” Clinton said.

Clinton’s campaign says the Democratic front-runner is in “excellent” health, despite accusations from the older Donald Trump questioning her stamina. A note from her physician, Dr. Lisa Kisco released in July, said Clinton regularly takes a thyroid hormone and an anticoagulant drug Coumadin to prevent blood clots, as well as an antihistamine for seasonal pollen allergies and vitamin B-12. She doesn’t smoke and drinks alcohol occasionally.