Fact Checker: Fact-checking the junk science behind health 'concerns' about Clinton's health

Fact-checking the junk science behind health ‘concerns’ about Clinton’s health Donald Trump repeatedly said this week that Hillary Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina” to be president. So we took a look at the main claims circulating right now of “concerns” over Clinton’s health — backed by junk science. Purported doctor’s records showing Clinton has …   The truth behind the rhetoric   Fact-checking the junk science behind health ‘concerns’ about Clinton’s health Donald Trump repeatedly said this week that Hillary Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina” to be president. So we took a look at the main claims circulating right now of “concerns” over Clinton’s health — backed by junk science. Purported doctor’s records showing Clinton has seizures and vascular dementia: These records emerged on Twitter last week allegedly showing devastating medical results. Snopes.com, which basically fact-checks the Internet, quickly found they were forgeries. Clinton demonstrates “seizure-esque” symptoms: Fox News host Sean Hannity pointed to videos of Clinton shaking her head at a group of reporters, showing his “concerns” that she was having “violent, out-of-control movements.” If you watch the video, you can tell Clinton was making an exaggerated, head-shaking movement while laughing. Clinton needs help getting up stairs: There’s a photo of Clinton slipping on the stairs once, but there are plenty of other photos of Clinton navigating stairs with no trouble. Clinton wears a defibrillator: Photos showed Clinton apparently wearing a boxy contraption underneath her clothing. The bulge was not a defibrillator, but a transmitter for a wireless microphone. Clinton is accompanied by a doctor who carries a Diazepam pen: The “doctor” was a Secret Service agent who was most likely carrying a flashlight. FWIW, Clinton, 69, and Trump, 70, have both been deemed healthy by their doctors. We awarded Four Pinocchios to Trump for trying to surface these debunked Internet rumors through innuendo. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this e-mail was forwarded to you, sign up here for the weekly newsletter. Hear something fact-checkable? Send it here, we’ll check it out.  About those little-c’s in Clinton emails After we updated our rating of Hillary Clinton’s claims about classified material in her emails to Four Pinocchios, we got lots of reader email pointing to the “little C’s” that were revealed during FBI Director James Comey’s hearing in Congress. President Bill Clinton repeated the little-C explanation during a recent speech, so we took a deep dive for readers to show why the little-C talking point does not vindicate Hillary Clinton's previous claims about classified materials. It gets really technical, so if you want the detailed version, read the full fact-check. ADVERTISEMENT   The up-shot is that two of three emails that had portion markings were call sheets that were improperly marked, and State Department considers the markings no longer necessary or appropriate at the time they were sent. Comey acknowledged that Clinton may not have known what the little-C marking meant. But the whole dispute over the little “c” is the political equivalent of three-card monte. Democrats have cherry-picked Comey's comments from the five-hour hearing to declare Hillary Clinton vindicated. But what they conveniently sweep under the rug are the 110 emails — which were not a part of the 2,000 that were retroactively classified — that were found to "contain classified information at the time they were sent or received." The diversion to "little-C" markings is an effort to distract the public from the disturbing finding by the FBI that Clinton was "extremely careless" in handling her emails, and should have protected the information whether or not it had a classification marking. Happy #FactCheckFriday! We launched #FactCheckFriday, when we flood social media with the latest fact-checking by Washington Post Fact Checker. Check us out onTwitter at @myhlee, @GlennKesslerWP and @PostPolitics, Facebook Live at facebook.com/washingtonpost, and Snapchat at ‘washingtonpost.’ Send us your fact-check submissions to #FactCheckThis. Check out our Twitter Moments round-up of the week in fact-checking. We’ll leave you with this cartoon, which one of our colleagues dropped off at Fact Checkerland this week. Help us find ads, statements, speeches, quotes and figures that don’t quite pass muster. Send your fact-check suggestions: fill out this form, e-mail us or tweet us at @myhlee, @GlennKesslerWP or using #FactCheckThis. Read about our rating scale here, and sign up here for our weekly Fact Checker newsletter.  Scroll down for this week’s Pinocchio round-up. –Michelle Ye Hee Lee The NRA’s false claim that Hillary Clinton doesn’t believe Americans can keep guns at home The NRA earns Four Pinocchios for a fear-mongering ad based on little evidence but leaps of logic By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »   Trump’s claim that Clinton lacks the ‘physical stamina’ to be president Donald Trump earns Four Pinocchios for raising questions about Clinton's health based on debunked Internet rumors. By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »   Trump’s claim attributing the 20-year New York City crime decline to Giuliani’s policies Trump uses ridiculous math and flawed logic to credit Giuliani for two decades of crime decline in New York City. By Michelle Ye Hee Lee  •  Read more »   Bill Clinton’s misleading claim about ‘marked classified’ information in Hillary Clinton’s emails Bill Clinton repeats two favorite Democratic claims that divert attention from the most disturbing findings of Hillary Clinton's private email use. By Michelle Ye Hee Lee  •  Read more »   Fact-checking Donald Trump’s ‘major’ speech on the Islamic State Donald Trump once again uttered a slew of false claims that have been repeatedly debunked By Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   The Daily Trail An evening rundown of what's happening on the campaign trail. Sign Up »         Share Fact Checker:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Fact Checker. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. 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