Bill Clinton Says Wife's Health Is Great

By Peter Nicholas and Damian Paletta

Former President Bill Clinton said his wife is strong and "doing great" after her health scare two years ago, while accusing political operative Karl Rove and other Republicans of trying to gain political advantage by raising questions about her health.

Mr. Clinton, speaking at a forum on budget issues Wednesday in Washington, also offered some fresh insights into the December 2012 incident, saying that Hillary Clinton suffered a "terrible concussion" that entailed "six months of very serious work" toward recovery. He described her as in good condition now, partly due to regular workouts.

"Look, she works out every week. She is strong; she is doing great," he added. "As far as I can tell, she is in better shape than I am. She certainly seems to have more stamina now."

Doctors found a blood clot between Mrs. Clinton's skull and brain two years ago, after she fell and suffered a concussion.

On a day when her health was much in the news, Mrs. Clinton, 66 years old, steered clear of the fight. She gave a speech in Washington to the American Jewish Committee that summarized her record as secretary of state and made no mention of her health.

After a long stretch during which Mrs. Clinton's health garnered little attention, Mr. Rove thrust the issue back into the spotlight by describing her health scare as a "traumatic brain injury," according to one person who heard his remarks.

He made those comments during a paid speaking engagement in California last week, according to the person in attendance. Mr. Rove's willingness to speculate on Mrs. Clinton's health suggests that Republicans might use the health scare to paint Mrs. Clinton as unfit to serve.

Mr. Clinton's remarks came in response to a question from the moderator. For Democrats, prolonging the discussion about Mrs. Clinton's health has little upside, as that would play into GOP efforts to shift the conversation to her age and health.

Mrs. Clinton is still weighing a presidential bid. Should she enter the 2016 race, she would be the overwhelming front-runner for the Democratic nomination, polling shows.

In an interview this week with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Rove said he couldn't recall using the term "traumatic brain injury" but added: "It would have been appropriate to say she had some kind of traumatic brain episode or incident."

Asked about the basis for his assertions, Mr. Rove said he has no access to Mrs. Clinton's medical files and knows only what he has read of her condition in newspapers. Mr. Rove is a regular contributor to the Journal's editorial pages.

A colleague of Mr. Rove's in George W. Bush's White House, Nicolle Wallace, said that Mr. Rove isn't careless in his actions and no doubt wanted the news media and others to focus more squarely on Mrs. Clinton's health scare.

"To the degree that this was a deliberate introduction of these issues into the political water supply, he has introduced the topic effectively, " Ms. Wallace said in an interview. She added: "He's done so at great cost to his own reputation, because people on both sides of the aisle have been incredibly harsh" about Mr. Rove's decision to raise the issue.

Still, she said, Mrs. Clinton won't be able to dodge questions about her health should she run, Ms. Wallace said.

"The notion that she could run for the nomination of her party without sharing incredibly uncomfortable, intimate details about her health is ridiculous," Ms. Wallace said.

For their part, Mrs. Clinton's staff this week described her as "100%" and cast questions about her health as politically motivated. Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, said in a statement: "From the moment this happened seventeen months ago, the Right has politicized her health. First, they accused her of faking it, now they've resorted to the other extreme--and are flat out lying." Mr. Clinton made a similar point in his remarks. After the concussion, Mrs. Clinton's scheduled appearance at congressional hearings devoted to the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that had killed four Americans several months earlier were postponed. Some Republicans questioned whether she was truly ill or looking for a way to avoid the hearings.

"First they said she faked her concussion, and now they say she is auditioning for a part on 'The Walking Dead,' " Mr. Clinton said, referencing a popular television show about people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse.

In her speech Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton also plugged her new book, "Hard Choices," which is coming out next month. She quipped the book is a "light summer read" suited to the beach. In the course of her remarks she used the phrase "hard choice" or "hard choices" a dozen times.

Mrs. Clinton also discussed her efforts to impose sanctions on Iran aimed at rolling back the country's nuclear program. She voiced doubt, though, that negotiations between Iran and the West will succeed.

"I personally am skeptical that the Iranians will follow through and deliver," Mrs. Clinton said. "I've seen many false hopes dashed over the years."