Hillary Clinton unexpectedly left Sunday's 9/11 anniversary ceremony in New York after feeling "overheated" and retreated to her daughter's nearby apartment. As she exited the apartment shortly before noon, Clinton said, "I'm feeling great."
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement that Clinton attended the morning ceremony for 90 minutes "to pay her respects and greet some of the families of the fallen.
"During the ceremony, she felt overheated so departed to go to her daughter's apartment, and is feeling much better," Merrill said.
The statement offered no additional details, including whether the 68-year-old Clinton required medical attention. A senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the matter said that after leaving the memorial plaza, Clinton was observed "fainting" in a departure area.
That official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorized to disclose information publicly.
Clinton walked out of her daughter's apartment on her own and made only a brief comment to the reporters waiting outside, saying "It's a beautiful day in New York." She waved and posed for a photo with a young girl before getting into her motorcade.
Donald Trump supporters have tried to make the case that she's physically unfit for the White House, citing a concussion she sustained in December 2012 after fainting. Her doctor attributed the episode to a stomach virus and dehydration.
Trump attended the same memorial service at ground zero in lower Manhattan, along with New York's Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand. The weather was warm and humid in New York on Sunday, and there was a breeze at the crowded memorial plaza during the ceremony.
Clinton's departure from the event was not witnessed by the reporters who travel with her campaign, which did not offer any information about why she left and her whereabouts for more than an hour.
Asked after the event about Clinton's health incident, Trump said, "I don't know anything about it."
Neither Trump nor Clinton spoke at the event, in keeping with the solemn nature of the annual remembrance of the deadliest terror attack on American soil.
Shares