Karl Rove suggests Hillary Clinton has brain damage
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images


Karl Rove has found another reason Hillary Clinton is supposedly unfit to be president: a mysterious fall that he thinks may have left her mentally impaired.
Speaking at a conference Monday night, Rove said Clinton, should she run for president in 2016, would need to level with voters about what happened to her after she took a tumble in December 2012, according to the New York Post.
"30 days in the hospital?," Rove said. "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."
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Clinton was diagnosed with a blood clot. And as The Washington Times notes, she only spent three days in a hospital — not 30 — though she later returned briefly for more tests.
A rep for Clinton responded: "Please assure Dr. Rove she's 100 percent."
Update: Rove on Tuesday walked back the remark in an appearance on Fox News, saying he never used the term "brain damage," and that he was merely talking about a "serious health episode" that would undoubtedly become an issue when reporters scrutinize Clinton's health history ahead of a White House bid. Clinton "would not be human if this didn't enter in as a consideration," he said, adding, "Look, she'll be 69 by the time of the 2016 election. She will be 77 if she serves two terms, and this ends up being an issue."
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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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