In the US presidential election, the two candidates competing for the White House, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, are engaging in increasingly fierce struggle. And therefore, any mistake in the race is becoming costlier, even as the gap between the candidates has recently narrowed to a few percentage points.
Trump was in the limelight before because of his admiration for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the scandal involving his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is suspected of receiving funds from the Party of Regions during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency.
Now the focus has shifted to Clinton, who recently called half of Trump supporters “a basket of deplorables,” which has of course caused a storm of outrage in the Republican camp. After just a few hours, the presidential candidate said she regretted her words, but would not stop criticizing her political opponent.
Clinton suffered another setback during the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York. She fell ill, and a video showed her assistants supporting her as she was helped into a car after leaving the ceremony early.
According to Clinton’s physician, Dr. Lisa Bardack, the candidate was on antibiotics and dehydrated during the 9/11 memorial ceremony, and so she fell ill. Bardack stressed that Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia the day before, and the politician was well on the road to recovery.
Her Republican opponents are known to have questioned whether she is fit enough to serve as president, but the doctor said “she was in excellent physical condition last month and is fit to serve as president of the United States.” Having undergone a vascular surgery in 2012, she had fully recovered, the doctor said. Clinton’s campaign headquarters accused opponents of pushing a “deranged conspiracy about Clinton’s health.” Clinton is 68, while her Republican opponent Trump is 70.
COMMENTARY
Aubrey JEWETT, professor, Department of Political Science, University of Central Florida:
“Hillary Clinton’s statement that half of Donald Trump supporters were ‘deplorable’ was a mistake that will probably cost her a few points in the polls. It is one thing to go after the other candidate (people expect that), but it is quite another to disparage such a large group of voters. It reminds me of when presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that 47 percent of the country would never vote for him because they were getting government checks. This hurt Romney as it made him look insensitive and that he was stereotyping a large group of people. Hillary’s illness (pneumonia) and recent fainting spell at a recent event will also likely hurt her. There were already rumors that her health was failing – the recent medical issues that occurred in plain view of everyone will now reinforce the thought that she is not physically strong and healthy enough to be an effective president.
“Donald Trump’s recent statements admiring Putin and especially when comparing Trump’s positive view of Putin to his negative view of President Obama) will probably not hurt his election chances. Most of his supporters really hate President Obama and so any comparison that results in Obama looking bad will be supported by most of them (they just kind of ignore the fact that Putin is a de facto dictator and that Trump is speaking well on an American adversary). Thus saying that Putin is a strong leader that took actions in Crimea because of Obama’s weakness will probably not hurt Trump at the polls. Many US voters feel that America is not as strong or respected as it once was abroad.”
