Hillary Clinton finally gave the press what they have been asking for weeks, with an impromptu question-and-answer session aboard her new campaign plane, but it ended abruptly as she began coughing uncontrollably and had to leave the press section of the plane.
It was the second time Monday that Clinton had a coughing spell, having coughed her way through two minutes of a campaign speech in Cleveland earlier. She laughed off that attack as an allergic reaction to her GOP presidential rival Donald Trump.
But the cough has been a point of speculation among some of Clinton's critics who say it points to evidence she is in poor health. Her campaign has dismissed such talk as conspiracy theory.
Clinton had just received a question about Trump's ties to Russia when her voice became notably scratchy, as it had been in her Cleveland speech.
Here is a complete transcript of her answer with coughs noted.
"The first question is about the Russians, and do I think they're trying to help Trump? Are they, right? I often quote [CLEARS THROAT] a great saying that I learned from living in Arkansas a lot of years: If you find a turtle on a bed post, it didn't get there by accident.
"I think it's quite intriguing that this activity has happened [COUGH] around the time Trump became the nominee. And look, he, very early on, allied himself with Putin's policies. I mean, to pull out of NATO, for goodness sakes, right? And he furthermore has praised Putin.
"He seems to have this bizarre attraction to dictators, including Putin. He won't tell us where he owes $650 million. There's a lot of rumors about that. And [COUGH COUGH] he has, you know, made it clear that he doesn't particularly care whether Putin and the intelligence services attack American institutions.
"So ... Do you have some water?"
Clinton began coughing uncontrollably, then took water from her staff. She turned her back to the reporters on the plane, but continued coughing.
At that point, she began to walk toward the end of the plane opposite the gathered reporters and said, "I'll be right with you."
At that point, the feed ended. CNN and MSNBC aired portions of Clinton's answers afterward, but Fox News Channel aired the press conference almost in its entirety, leaving only when Clinton was forced to end it.
Clinton's earlier coughing spell lasted at least two minutes, and her voice sounded scratchy even between the coughs.
"Every time I think about Trump I get allergic," she said.
"Once I get over my allergic reaction, let me say we're here in part because we know how important this election is to Ohio. It's not just as [running mate] Tim [Kaine] said that Ohio is one of those battleground states you hear about every four years, it's that Ohio represents everything that's great about America and all the challenges and opportunities we face."
Clinton has suffered several coughing spells during her appearances in recent months, which some of her critics have used to argue that she is in poor health.
Among other issues that critics cite in saying that the 68-year-old Clinton is suffering from health problems are the fact she suffered a concussion in December 2012 after fainting from dehydration. The concussion was said to be the reason she was seen wearing thick glasses to combat double vision during her Benghazi testimony in January 2013.
She was seen wearing glasses again in February of this year, sparking a tweet from the Drudge Report titled "Hillary Health Drama: Prism Glasses Back on Day After Coughing Seizure."
The fall also led to the discovery of a blood clot during a follow-up examination, which led to a hospital stay.
"Mrs. Clinton’s blood clot formed in a large vein along the side of her head, behind her right ear, between the brain and the skull," The New York Times reported at the time, adding that she had a blood clot in her leg as first lady in 1998.
She began taking blood thinners at the time, and was still taking Coumadin in August 2015. She told ABC News in 2014 she likely was on blood thinners "for life."
Clinton also takes Armour Thyroid, a thyroid hormone replacement, antihistamines and vitamin B12, according to the Associated Press.
As for the coughing, it was first noticed at the 2013 Benghazi hearing, and came back in January 2016. It has been documented several times since and has been accompanied by the same hoarse speech heard on Monday.
Clinton has had at least two falls, including one while serving as secretary of state in 2009 that broke her right elbow. She was recorded falling while boarding a plane in 2011.
Though Clinton has been under attack from the right over whether her coughing spells are evidence of a serious health issue, she has been under fire from Trump and from the press for her failure to hold news conferences.
Clinton had not held one since Dec. 4 before the impromptu Q&A aboard the plane Monday.
She has argued with reporters her interviews with them should count, though critics argue she is doing them by telephone, allowing her staff to feed her answers.
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