Media Bias: Healthy Hillary vs. Decrepit McCain

A fresh round of questions have been raised over the health and fitness of Hillary Clinton to serve as president after photographs taken by Getty in February surfaced over the weekend showing the former secretary of state needing help up the stairs into her home. Grabbing the 68-year-old Clinton above the elbows on each side, aides assisted her to the top.

The trouble walking is just the latest in a long line of health concerns for Clinton, including mysterious coughing bouts that sometimes totally incapacitate the Democratic nominee.

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But the mainstream media has given the physical capacity of Clinton to serve nearly no coverage at all, and certainly not even a fraction of the coverage heaped upon Arizona Sen. John McCain’s health when he was the GOP standard-bearer in 2008.

McCain, who would have been the oldest president at 72, was hounded by media speculation concerning his age, well-being and worn appearance. Extensive reporting focused on McCain’s injuries and torture suffered while a prisoner of war in Vietnam for over five years, as well as the major surgery he underwent to remove skin cancer from the left side of his face. McCain also had cysts in his kidney and stones in his bladder, as well as other issues.

The coverage prompted the McCain campaign to give the public full access to 1,173 pages of health records to prove his physical ability to serve in office.

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“This release is an unprecedented disclosure of primary sourced medical information about a presidential candidate,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in 2008, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Clinton, who has more obvious and current trouble with the rigors of the campaign trail than McCain, has not answered a single media question about her health in 2016.

In January, subsequent reports indicated a lengthy “bathroom break” taken during one of the primary debates was actually taken because of health concerns stemming from a brain injury suffered during a fall in 2012. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, said that it took her six months to recover from that scare. In 2011, Clinton was caught on camera stumbling and falling after she boarded a plane, and in 2009, Clinton fractured her right elbow and had to undergo surgery after she slipped and fell while walking to her car. Clinton has also made some headlines for several bouts of intense coughing suffered during speeches and hearings over the years.

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But even though Clinton seemingly can’t even walk up stairs by herself, the media continues to let the issue slide, even though the job of being the president carries immense strain and time requirements, Clinton has been given a free pass on her fitness to serve.