Analysis: Trump suggests he still has doubts about Clinton’s health explanation

For 24 hours, Donald Trump had been pretty hands-off in his reaction to Hillary Clinton falling ill at a 9/11 memorial on Sunday morning – first silence, then a relatively low-key Monday morning reaction.

But if you look closely at his first comments about the Clinton campaign’s pneumonia diagnosis, it’s clear he can’t quite help but cast doubt on the whole explanation.

Appearing on CNBC, Trump said of the situation: “It’s quite sad,” and “I hope she gets well soon.” But then he suggested quite strongly that a pneumonia diagnosis, which the Clinton campaign announced Sunday, two days after it was diagnosed, might not be the whole story.

“You know, it was interesting because they say pneumonia on Friday, but she was coughing very, very badly a week ago, and even before that, if you remember. This wasn’t the first time,” Trump said. “So it’s very interesting to see what is going on.”

And he seemed to hint, while saying that campaigning is “grueling work,” that Clinton’s campaigning wasn’t nearly as demanding as his. “If you look at my scheduling and compare to anybody else’s scheduling, there’s not a contest.”

These comments were tossed into a bunch of boilerplate about Trump wanting Clinton to feel better and return to the campaign trail. Some even reported that Trump was being magnanimous. But it’s classic Trump: He’s suggesting something is amiss without saying it directly.

That’s been his tack on Clinton’s health from Day One. While others in his campaign have lodged more direct assertions about it – and even offering a specific diagnosis, in one case – Trump has been more oblique, questioning Clinton’s “stamina.” The latter comment above seems to be in that vein.

It wouldn’t appear particularly helpful for Trump to insert himself into this debate, and his campaign seems to know that.

The Clinton campaign is being faulted for its delayed disclosure of her pneumonia diagnosis and for keeping the press in the dark after she was whisked away from the 9/11 memorial, including by David Axelrod, former top adviser to President Barack Obama, on Monday morning.

So this situation doesn’t really need Trump to weigh in. Reporters are already asking questions, and the Clinton campaign is already stumbling.

The problem for Trump’s campaign is that in these situations, he often just can’t help himself. It’s a lot like the birther issue: Trump’s campaign would certainly prefer he put the issue to rest by simply saying that President Obama was born in the United States. He won’t do it.

Similarly, on this, Trump seemed to be making an effort to avoid inserting himself into the story. But he can’t totally change who he is.