How a handful of conspiracists pushed faux Clinton health concerns into the mainstream

The frenzy of concern over Hillary Clinton's health climbed to new heights on Sunday after video showed she needed support on her way to a van following a Sept. 11 event, and she was later revealed to be suffering from a likely mild form of pneumonia.

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The diagnosis breathed new oxygen into a sea of conspiracy theories about the Democratic presidential nominee's health that have long swirled around the candidate but have been pushed into more mainstream conversations in recent weeks. Several conspiracists have proposed that Clinton has Parkinson's disease or a serious brain injury of some kind, though there is no credible evidence to back up any such claim.

SEE ALSO: Clinton camp reveals pneumonia diagnosis after 9/11 event

How Clinton's stumble at 9/11 event fueled health theories

That said, the Clinton campaign's initial secrecy surrounding her exit from the 9/11 event raised some eyebrows. The campaign released no information to the press for 1.5 hours, didn't allow reporters to follow her to her van, and initially said Clinton had simply "overheated."

Clinton's wobbly moment gave conspiracists another reason to boost their outlandish theories, and fueled yet another round of talk about the campaign's apparent dishonesty.

Clinton was seen waving to fans after resting at her daughter's apartment. But her quick recovery did little to quash conspiracies about her health that never had much to do with pneumonia.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves after leaving an apartment building on Sept. 11. Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

How the theories gained traction

A handful of people and websites have seized on little coughing spurts, highly edited videos and made-up backstories to push theories that Clinton is feeble, has suffered from seizures and has a secret doctor always at her side.

And though these theories have been disproved multiple times on multiple websites, they've seeped into mainstream political conversations via hugely popular conservative outlets such as Drudge Reportand Fox News.

Rumors surrounding Clinton's health have been around at least since she suffered a concussion in 2012, but writers at conservative outlets and other websites ran with a new set of alleged health issues at the start of August, right as Trump reportedly said Clinton's not "all there" at a campaign rally.

The sites began publicizing false evidence that Clinton was frail and suffered from seizures.

Self-help author Mike Cernovich, a Trump-supporting attorney and men's rights activist who runs the website Danger & Play, which dabbles in right-wing conspiracies as well as posts about sex, masculinity and "how to be dominant," told Mashablehe's been "paying attention" to Clinton's health since May.

Cernovich, a noted rape apologist viewed by some conservative writers as something of a nut job, attracts viewers to his site via his 104,000 Twitter followers. He brought attention to made-up Clinton health concerns with a post on Aug. 7 that questioned whether a secret service agent protecting Clinton was actually a doctor who traveled with her. The agent is Secret Service Assistant Special Agent in Charge Todd Madison, according to The Washington Post.

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On Aug. 4, the agent rushes to Clinton's side as animal rights activists protested while she was delivering a campaign speech. Cernovich claims Clinton "freezes" during the speech and Madison, who he says is "clearly" not a regular member of the Secret Service, is whispering "hypnotic language" in her ear.

Fueling the conspiracy theories further, another post about Clinton's health went live around the same time. An off-the-beaten-path conservative outlet called The American Mirrorpublished old photos that show people around Clinton helping her up a set of stairs.

The photos were actually from February, and Getty's set of photos were captioned with the information that Clinton had slipped while walking up the steps. But, as reported by The Washington Post, The American Mirror initially left out those details.

Democratic Presidential candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slips as she walks up the stairs into the non-profit SC Strong, on Feb. 24. Credit: Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images

The American Mirror's inaccurate post found its way to the conservative media aggregating powerhouse, Drudge Report, and rapidly made its way around the internet.

This opened the door for other outlets to push their own #HillarysHealth conspiracies, and WorldNetDaily -- a website that describes itself both as an "independent news site" and as a website with a "Christian worldview" -- seized its chance, re-upping a previous story about Clinton supposedly having a seizure.

The video often shared of the supposed seizure is highly and obviously edited, and has 2.8 million views as of this writing.

Fox News anchor and Trump-supporter Sean Hannity put an even greater spotlight on the seizure speculation when he held a roundtable to discuss it on air, calling Clinton's motion a "violent" movement.

Full video of the press scrum, however, makes it apparent Clinton was joking with reporters and perhaps trying slip her way out of answering more than a question or two.

Trump's role

Still, later that month, Trump himself alluded to Clinton health conspiracies when he said she "lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all of the many adversaries we face."

The GOP nominee has also tweeted an insinuation that Clinton's stamina is failing her on the campaign trail.

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All of these conspiracies were alive and well on Sunday, when the revelation that Clinton has pneumonia first made news.

Conspiracy theorists -- many of whom write for right-wing websites and are openly anti-Clinton -- seized the moment in an attempt to weaken her candidacy.

On Monday, Cernovich posted a lengthy "history" of Clinton's supposed health problems, documenting a few falls, her concussion and then diving into the seizure video and other conspiracies before rounding it out with a video claiming Clinton has Parkinson's disease. That video features Ted Noel, an anti-Clinton anesthesiologist (not neurologist) who has never examined Clinton nor has the expertise to make such a diagnosis.

In another corner of the internet, WorldNetDailywas ready to pounce with a detailed account of all the Clinton health theories wrapped up as a news piece. While Breitbartasked people "who identified themselves as doctors" to call into its news show and diagnose Clinton. It was an intense game of "Google doctor."

Now that Clinton's health issues -- real and made up -- have taken over the news cycle, her campaign officials have said they plan to release more of the nominee's medical records later this week.

There is little chance it will quell the growing voice of the conspiracists.