Hillary Clinton says time off campaign trail is a ‘gift’

Hillary Clinton, US Democratic presidential nominee

In her return to the campaign trail after a bout with pneumonia, Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she did not want to take time off but that it turned out to be a “gift” that allowed her to reflect on the race.

“It’s great to be back on the campaign trail. As you may know, I recently had a cough that turned out to be pneumonia. I tried to power through it but even I have to admit, some rest would do me good,” Clinton said during a rally in North Carolina.

“I’m not great at taking it easy, even under ordinary circumstances. With just two months, sitting at home was pretty much the last place I wanted to be but it turns out having a few days to myself was actually a gift,” she added.

Speaking with reporters after her rally, Clinton said her “senior staff” knew that she was diagnosed with the illness last Friday but did not say when running mate Tim Kaine was informed.

She also said her campaign “could have been faster” in revealing the pneumonia diagnosis.

Clinton’s return to the campaign trail comes as polls show the race tightening both nationally and in key battleground states.

“I’ve always said that this is going to be a tight race. I’ve said it from the very beginning whether I was up, down, it didn’t matter,” Clinton said.

While speaking to reporters, Clinton also went off on Donald Trump for calling a pastor who interrupted his remarks in Flint, Michigan on Wednesday a “nervous mess.”

“My opponent is running a very different campaign. His latest target is a pastor in Flint, Michigan, who respectfully asked him not to use her pulpit for political attacks. He called her a ‘nervous mess,'” Clinton said. “That’s not only insulting, it’s dead wrong.”