Hillary Clinton attends Bay Area fundraiser via teleconference

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Hillary Clinton canceled her appearance at a fundraiser in San Francisco Monday, instead speaking over a phone connection to thank the auditorium of donors who attended the event at the Masonic Temple on Nob Hill Monday.

Attendees say the auditorium, which seats about 3,000 people, was mostly full. Donors paid from $250 a person up to $100,000, but had to take a rain check on seeing HIllary Clinton in person.

"I was kind of bummed she wasn't going to be able to make it today, but she's got pneumonia and she has to do what she has to do," said Paul Noronha of San Francisco.

Donors say the Democratic candidate thanked her supporters and briefly addressed her health condition. The cancellation comes after Clinton's campaign and doctor confirmed that her abrupt departure Sunday from the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York and her awkward stumble caught on a cell phone camera, was due to pneumonia and dehydration.

At the San Francisco fundraiser, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom introduced Hillary Clinton.

"She sounded really good on the phone. We all got to hear her speak," said Linda Lyons, a Clinton supporter from San Francisco, "She just said she was so sorry to have to follow doctor's orders and not travel, but she was going to take the day off because she has such a heavy schedule ahead of her."

Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia Friday and political analyst Brian Sobel says the campaign might have avoided some of the criticism if it had responded more quickly to people's questions Sunday about Clinton's health.

"They want to know there isn't something behind what they saw and this goes to transparency. The Clinton campaign could have come out a little quicker telling people that Hillary Clinton might have to leave an event here or there," Sobel said.

"It's just part of a theme with this campaign that you don't get the full picture until they are confronted with cross examination," said Harmeet Dhillon, California Republican Party Vice-Chair.

Some Republicans including Dhillon say Sunday's incident speaks to their larger criticism that Clinton and her campaign not being forthright with Americans.

"It's not unique to the health situation, it goes to her email situation, it goes to what happened in Benghazi, it goes to how the Clinton Foundation has profited over the years from a number of unsavory sources," Dhillon said.

Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom says Clinton is not hiding anything and has shown with her schedule of speeches, appearances and cross-country travel that she is in good health and well-qualified to be President.

"There's a point of absurdity, someone getting a cold, someone having sniffles, someone coughing and then all the conspiracy theorists are out there banging on the door that she has some kind of disease or something," Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom said, adding that voters should focus on each candidate's policy proposals instead.

San Francisco donor Reed Maltzman, his daughter and his wife said the fundraiser was their first for Hillary Clinton.

"As with many things in this campaign, there's a double standard and if it were a man, we would not be talking about his health to the degree that we are," Maltzman's wife said.

Clinton has released some of her health records and Trump's campaign said they would release his records in the coming weeks.
There are voters on both sides, who say both candidates should release complete health records given their ages. Clinton is 68 and Trump is 70.

Hillary Clinton was scheduled to appear at two fundraisers in Southern California Tuesday. In her place, Bill Clinton plans to attend those events.