Update, 12:20 p.m.: Karl Rove said Tuesday he never used the phrase "brain damage" to describe former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's health.
"I didn't say she had brain damage, she had a serious health episode," Rove said on Fox News. "My point was, is that Hillary Clinton wants to run for president, but she would not be human if this didn't enter in as a consideration."
Rove said his other point was that Clinton's health will be an issue if she runs in 2016 "whether she likes it or not."
"Every presidential candidate is asked for all of their health records by the New York Times, they turn them over … to a battery of doctors and they examine it in detail," Rove said.
Original story below:
Republican strategist Karl Rove suggested that Hillary Clinton may have suffered brain damage, according to a report.
Republican strategist Karl Rove reportedly suggested former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have suffered a brain injury. (AP)
“Thirty days in the hospital? And when she reappears, she’s wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury? We need to know what’s up with that," Rove said at an event in Los Angeles Thursday, as reported by the New York Post's Page Six. Rove was speaking alongside former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and CBS correspondent Dan Raviv.
According to Page Six, Rove repeated his claim "a number of times to the audience."
Clinton, then the secretary of state, fell and suffered a concussion in December 2012 and was later diagnosed with a blood clot. Her injury postponed her testimony before Congress about the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Medical experts said the type of lenses Clinton subsequently wore were consistent with patients who have double vision.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the 2012 Benghazi attacks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 23, 2013. (AFP/Getty Images/Saul Loeb)
A Clinton representative told Page Six: "Please assure Dr. Rove she’s 100 percent.”
