GOP activist Karl Rove is being accused of gutter politics in a response by Hillary Clinton’s reps after remarks last week, reported by Page Six, that the former secretary of state may have brain damage from a blood clot she suffered in 2012.
“From the moment this happened 17 months ago, the right has politicized her health,” Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement. “First they accused her of faking it. Now they’ve resorted to the other extreme — and are flat-out lying … All he wants to do is inject the issue into the echo chamber, and he’s succeeding.”
This comes in response to Rove’s comments at a conference in Los Angeles last week: “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 was discharged from New York-Presbyterian hospital after three days.
Rove, appearing Tuesday on Fox News, clarified his remarks — but stood by his concerns about Clinton’s health.
“I never used that phrase, I never used that phrase,” Rove said when asked whether Clinton may have “brain damage.” “But look, she had a serious health episode. And I don’t know about you, but if you go through a serious health episode, it causes you to look at life a little bit differently. This was a serious deal.”
Political veterans said Rove had a point.
Clinton will have to release her medical records to clear the air if she’s a presidential candidate, consultants who’ve worked on prior White House campaigns said — and not only because of her blood-clot scare. If elected, Clinton would be the oldest person to assume the presidency since Ronald Reagan, who was elected at age 69. Clinton will turn 69 on Oct. 26, 2016.
“She’ll have to release her medical records, and I think she will,” said GOP strategist Ed Rollins, who ran both of Reagan’s campaigns.
Rollins noted that when the popular Reagan ran for re-election, polling showed the only concern voters had was his age and health. “It was a sensitive issue back then. But today 70 is the new 50,” he said.
He admitted that Reagan — who was 77 when he left the White House — “slowed down” in his second term, and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s years after he left office.
But Rollins thought it was wrong for Rove to raise the issue now because Clinton appears “vigorous” and “active.”
“Sometimes you talk out loud when you shouldn’t,” he said.
Arizona Sen. John McCain was 76 when he was the GOP presidential nominee in 2008 — the oldest standard-bearer to seek the Oval Office. He released his health records.
“Any serious candidate for president these days needs to release medical records,” said Charlie Black, a top adviser to the McCain campaign.
Black said President Obama tried to run against McCain’s age by running a “future vs. the past” campaign. But he said voters were not worried about the feisty McCain’s health.