In her first news conference in more than nine months, Hillary Clinton Thursday admitted that "I should have taken time off earlier" to deal with her pneumonia and defended her campaign staff for not disclosing the illness sooner.
"This was an ailment that many people just power through — and that's what I thought I would do as well," Clinton told reporters after speaking at a rally in Greensboro, N.C. "I didn't want to stop.
"I didn't want to quit campaigning," she added. "I certainly didn't want to miss the 9/11 memorial. It didn't work out.
"So. I got the antibiotics up and going, got the rest that I needed — and we're going on from there."
Clinton, 68, nearly collapsed at a ceremony marking the terrorist attacks in New York.
Her campaign initially said that she "felt overheated" and left to go to her daughter Chelsea's apartment, where she was "feeling much better."
However, Clinton's doctor released a statement later Sunday saying that the presidential nominee had been diagnosed with pneumonia the previous Friday. She resumed her campaign on Thursday after taking off three days.
In Greensboro on Thursday, Clinton spoke for about a half-hour and took six questions from reporters afterward. Her last news conference was on Dec. 5.
'"My campaign has said that they could have been faster, and I agree with that," Clinton said in response to one question about not disclosing the illness sooner. "I certainly expect them to be as focused and quick as possible.
"But I have to say, from my perspective, I thought I was going to be fine — and I thought that there wasn't really any reason to make a big fuss about it.
"I should have taken time off earlier," Clinton added. "I didn't. Now I have. And I am back on the campaign trail."
She said that she was "very proud of the campaign that we have put together" and responded to questions about Trump's resurgence in the polls by saying, "I have always said that his was going to be a tight race.
"I feel like we are in a strong position going into these last weeks. What matters is who registers to vote and who is motivated and mobilized to turn out to vote.
"I am going to keep doing everything I can to deliver my message about what's at stake in this election," Clinton added. "My campaign is going to continue to work hard every day to turn out every voter we possibly can.
"That's our goal and that's our strategy."
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