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Trump said Clinton ‘doesn’t have the stamina.’ He’s promoting a sexist trope rooted in conspiracy.

He went there.

CREDIT: Screenshot
CREDIT: Screenshot

At the first presidential debate, debate moderator Lester Holt asked Trump what he meant when he said Clinton, the first female presidential nominee of a major party, didn’t “look presidential.” Trump pivoted from that question to asserting that Clinton didn’t have the “stamina” to be president.

“She doesn’t have that? The look. She doesn’t have the stamina. I said she doesn’t have the stamina. and I don’t believe she does have the stamina — to be president of this country, you need tremendous stamina” Trump said.

This is a dog whistle about Clinton’s health that Trump’s campaign has been promoting for months.

The candidate himself generally sticks to veiled hits on Clinton’s “stamina” or accusations that she is “low energy” — accusations which fit neatly into pervasive cultural tropes casting women as the “weaker sex.

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“Hillary Clinton has been running for president for a year and a half. We’ve seen her endure eleven hours of scrutiny during Benghazi hearings. We’ve seen her deal with many many debates, a very difficult and onerous convention schedule, and she has not in any way faltered,” Jennifer Lawless, professor of government at American University and the Director of the the Women and Politics institute, previously told ThinkProgress.

“But the minute she coughs, the minute she’s demonstrated any degree of physical weakness or frailty — even if it’s just a typical condition like a cough — the Trump campaign has pounced on that to suggest that she doesn’t have what it takes.”

Clinton, meanwhile, in the debate responded by pointing to her record as Secretary of State.

“Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional to me about stamina. committee, he can talk” she said.

Even beyond the gendered overtones, hits on Clinton’s “stamina” — beside all evidence to the opposite — also have their roots in a right-wing conspiracy theory alleging that Clinton is on her death bed. While Trump makes veiled statements about Clinton’s stamina, his campaign surrogates have taken the insinuations even further and outright said that Hillary Clinton has brain damage.

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In August, former mayor Rudy Giuliani urged people to google “Hillary Clinton illness,” explicitly pointing voters down a rabbit hole of conspiracies theories from the right-wing echo-chamber that allege that Hillary Clinton is dying or neurologically damaged in various ways, from Parkinson’s to multiple sclerosis to traumatic brain injury. Also in August, Trump campaign surrogate Katrina Pierson went on MSNBC and alleged that Clinton was suffering from dysphasia — a language disorder resulting from brain disease or damage. If Clinton had dysphasia she wouldn’t be able to speak, let alone travel the country giving stump speeches.

This conspiracy theory went truly mainstream when Clinton was filmed looking decidedly wobbly after leaving a 9/11 memorial early. Clinton’s aides later disclosed that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia that Friday. Her doctor said that she had been prescribed antibiotics, and was recovering well. While any politician’s early departure would likely have been a story, fueled by the swirling atmosphere of suspicion around Clinton’s health, it generated headlines for days, though pneumonia is not a chronic condition and is not likely to have a lasting impact.

Despite the veiled (or not so veiled) hits on her health, Clinton’s physician, Dr. Lisa Bardack, released a detailed doctor’s note last year, showing that Clinton was in good health. After Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia, the campaign released more health records, also showing that Clinton is in good health.

Trump, meanwhile, who is a year older than Clinton, has released far less information about his health. He also reportedly flies home to sleep in his own bed most nights.

According to reporting from People, the bug that hit Clinton also made the rounds of most of her campaign staff — and getting sick on the campaign trail is a tradition every year.