Hillary Clinton’s mystery cough reemerged during a ‘Raise Your Voice’ event for women, as she struggled to raise her own.
During the conference on a live feed from New York, the former Democratic nominee gave closing remarks for the three-day Makers Conference in Los Angeles, which urged women to continue raising their voices in speaking out against sexism, racism and bigotry.
‘We’re in the midst of war on truth, facts and reason,’ Clinton said, taking a jab at the Trump administration.
Hillary Clinton struggled to get through a speech about raising your voice during a live-feed from New York at the conclusion of a three day conference for women
‘I know at times it can be overwhelming, but every one of us has the power to hold people accountable.’
‘From Hollywood to politics to factory floors, everywhere women are telling the truth about their lives,’ Clinton said in a clip from the address, posted to Twitter.
‘You know. We have to be brave. We have to be brave enough to engage with people who disagree with us, brave enough to question and examine our own beliefs, brave enough to acknowledge that even those of us who have spent much of our life thinking about and fighting about gender issues – who even have first-hand experiences navigating male-dominated industries – may not always get it right,’ she continued.
‘I pledge to continue to speak out. I pledge to never give up …,’ Clinton said as she began coughing.
‘I will do everything I can …,’ she tried to continue.
‘To keep my voice, number one – to advance the rights and opportunities of women,’ she said as the audience laughed. ‘In the midst of this snowstorm … stay on the front-lines of democracy.’
Clinton’s coughing fits were a repeated hindrance to her message throughout the 2016 campaign.
A candidate’s cough: Then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton struggled to contain a coughing fit as she spoke at the Jewish Federation in Iowa in January of 2016
February of 2016 the cough continued during a speech in Manhattan as she struggled to speak
Post candidate Hillary: Delivering the commencement address at Wellesley College- May, 2017
The then candidate had frequent coughing fits on the campaign trail which she blamed on pollen.
The real cause of the coughing became the subject of huge speculation about her health, and months of denial of any long-term problem ended in embarrassment when she collapsed at a 9/11 memorial in New York.
Hours later her doctor said she was being treated for pneumonia.
Her coughs have continued through speaking engagements post-election.
And even before she hit the campaign trail, Clinton had to dig out a lozenge during the 2015 Benghazi hearings.
Despite never raising her voice, at the ten-and-a-half-hour mark Clinton broke down in a coughing fit that ended only after she took a lozenge from her purse and then rejected a suggestion of a short break from Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican.