Karl Rove Says Bill Clinton Was First To Warn Of Hillary's Health Problems

Karl Rove said former President Bill Clinton is the one who made him think Hillary Clinton has serious health problems.

In an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity" Tuesday, Rove explained it was Bill's recent comments, which "the American people didn't know" about that led him to believe the ex-president's wife, Hillary, is not fit to serve in the White House due to the concussion she sustained in 2012. Hillary is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2016.

"I said she had a serious health incident ... I thought it would be a bigger part of her personal calculation," Rove said, adding, "If she's got a problem with that, then take it up with her husband ... who went out and declared to the country something that we didn't know. It was her husband who said, 'You didn't realize how serious this was? It took Hillary six months of really hard work to overcome it and I'm proud of her."

Rove was referring to comments Bill made last month at the Peterson Foundation, where he addressed rumors the concussion, which Hillary has discussed extensively, was a ruse to hide a more serious health issue.

"I was sort of dumbfounded. They went to all this trouble to say she had staged what was a terrible concussion that required six months of very serious work to get over, something she never lowballed with the American people, never tried to pretend didn't happen," said Bill.

Rove also went on to accuse the State Department of being intentionally misleading about Hillary's recovery.

"Her State Department PR said 'No problem, she's over this in thirty days'...and then she shows up with these fractal glasses that you have to wear as a result of a traumatic concussion," Rove said.

Rove concluded Hillary won't be able to "get away with" misleading people about her health if she does indeed run for president in 2016.

"Look, she's going to say what she's going to say because she is antagonistic towards the press, and she has very thin skin, and she will abide no criticism...and that's not what the presidential candidate is going to be able to get away with."

Rove initially raised questions about Hillary Clinton's health at an event in May. Since then, other prominent conservatives including the blogger Matt Drudge and radio host Rush Limbaugh have echoed Rove's concerns. Hillary and her allies have maintained there is no issue with her physical condition. In an interview earlier this month, she said she had "no lingering effects" from the concussion.