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Clinton suffers coughing fit during speech

Presidential candidate laughs off brief spell: ‘You do talk a lot in this campaign’

By ToI Staff 27 January 2016, 2:30 am 1

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US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suffers a brief coughing fit during a campaign speech on January 25, 2016 (YouTube screen capture)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suffered a coughing spell during a campaign speech on Monday, as she spoke before a Jewish group in Iowa.

Clinton, speaking before a crowd of 150 at the Jewish Federation of Des Moines, said the partnership between the United States and Israel must strengthen amid a surge in global extremist terrorism.

Her 18-minute address, her first at a Jewish institution in Iowa, one week before the caucuses, was disrupted by an early coughing fit that left her voice hoarse for the bulk of the speech.

Clinton has in the past stated she suffers from hypothyroidism and seasonal allergies, and takes blood thinners after a clot was found in her head in 2012.

https://youtu.be/SIhG0Y3ZOPg

Conservative websites pounced on the recent coughing fit as proof of the candidate’s supposed ill health, but Clinton’s doctors have said she is healthy and fully fit for office.

Clinton herself brushed off the brief coughing bout, soldiering through the rest of her remarks.

“You do talk a lot in this campaign,” she said as she reached for a glass of water and a lozenge.

JTA and AP contributed to this report.