On December 15, the Washington Post reported that Clinton had sustained
a concussion after fainting due to dehydration at home. According to the
Post, Clinton had been suffering from a stomach virus that she had
picked up after a trip to Europe.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee spokeswoman Jodi Seth then announced
that Clinton's testimony would be postponed to an unknown future date
due to her condition, Reuters reported.

Following the announcement that Clinton's testimony would be postponed,
several Fox News programs began to ridicule the Secretary of State's
condition and suggested she had faked an injury to avoid giving
testimony. According to MediaMatters, the State Department called the
notion "wild speculation based on no information."

Fox news contributor John Bolton, who appeared in On The Record, first
suggested that Clinton was faking "diplomatic illness" to avoid
testifying about the incident in Benghazi, MediaMatters reported.
Several evening shows followed up on Bolton's comments with some (The
Five's Kimberly Guilfoyle) saying that Clinton was running "a duck and
cover" in order not to testify.

According to MediaMatters, regular Fox News guest and contributor to
Fox's Special Report went on to say that Clinton was "suffering from
acute Benghazi allergy which causes lightheadedness when she hears the
word 'Benghazi.'"

The O'Reilly Factor host Bill O'Reilly added his two cents in and said,
"If she was in the NFL I wouldn't let her play, but I think she can make
a phone call."

Days afterwards, it was announced that doctors had discovered a blood
clot in Clinton's head following her concussion. In a statement
released, Clinton's doctors, Dr. Lisa Bardack and Dr. Gigi El'Bayoumi,
said, "This is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between
the brain and the skull behind the right ear."

Since the development, many in the media have called on Fox News evening
show contributors and host to issue an apology for their ridicule and
suggestions that Clinton was faking her illness. On Monday, MSNBC's
Rachel Maddow wrote, "Given Clinton's hospitalization, it would appear
the folks who advanced this nonsense owe the public an explanation, if
not an apology."

The Daily Download's Lauren Ashburn and Howard Kurtz also weighed in and
published a video in which they attributed the mockery to Clinton being
a Democrat and a Clinton--something the conservative contributors and
host at Fox appear to be against.