Politics

Bill Clinton is 'doing fine' and will be out of the hospital soon, Biden says

Key Points
  • Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Urena, said his health is "trending in the right direction" and that he is "in excellent spirits."
  • An aide for the former president said Clinton has been reading books and watching TV coverage about his hospitalization.

Hillary Clinton returned Saturday morning to the Southern California hospital where Bill Clinton is recovering after being treated for an infection.

The former president is doing fine and will be released soon from the University of California Irvine Medical Center, President Joe Biden said Friday night.

Biden said during remarks at the University of Connecticut that he had spoken to Clinton and the former president "sends his best."

"He's doing fine; he really is," Biden said.

"He's not in any serious condition," Biden said. "He is getting out shortly, as I understand it. Whether that's tomorrow or the next day, I don't know."

Hillary Clinton has been with her husband at the hospital southeast of Los Angeles. She returned around 8 a.m. Saturday in an SUV accompanied by secret service agents.

Clinton, 75, was admitted on Tuesday with an infection unrelated to Covid-19, his spokesman said.

An aide to the former president said Clinton had a urological infection that spread to his bloodstream, but he is on the mend and never went into septic shock, a potentially life-threatening condition.

Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña had said Friday that Clinton would remain hospitalized overnight to receive further intravenous antibiotics.

"All health indicators are trending in the right direction, including his white blood count, which has decreased significantly," Ureña said in a statement.

"President Clinton continues to be in excellent spirits, and is deeply grateful for the outstanding care he is receiving and the well wishes that people have sent from across America and around the world," the statement said.

President Clinton has continued to make excellent progress over the last 24 hours. He will remain overnight at UC Irvine Medical Center to continue to receive IV antibiotics before an expected discharge
tomorrow," a spokesperson said Saturday. "He is in great spirits and has been spending time with family, catching up with friends, and watching college football. He is deeply grateful for the excellent care he
continues to receive and thankful to the many well-wishers who have sent kind words to him and his
family. He's looking forward to getting home very soon."

In the years since Clinton left the White House in 2001, the former president has faced health scares. In 2004, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery after experiencing prolonged chest pains and shortness of breath. He returned to the hospital for surgery for a partially collapsed lung in 2005, and in 2010 he had a pair of stents implanted in a coronary artery.

He responded by embracing a largely vegan diet that saw him lose weight and report improved health.

Clinton repeatedly returned to the stump, campaigning for Democratic candidates, most notably Hillary Clinton during her failed 2008 bid for the presidential nomination. And in 2016, as Hillary Clinton sought the White House as the Democratic nominee, her husband — by then a grandfather and nearing 70 — returned to the campaign trail.

CNBC contributed to this report.

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Former President Bill Clinton: Trump would 'blame, bully and belittle' and Biden will 'build back better'