IT WAS a small stumble by a sick and tired 68-year-old woman. Yet the dizzy spell Hillary Clinton suffered on September 11th, which caused her to retreat, tottering, from a memorial service in New York, looks like a giant gift to Donald Trump. A video clip, circulated feverishly on Twitter, showed Mrs Clinton appearing to collapse momentarily into the arms of her bodyguards as she was forced to leave the service for the victims of the 9/11 attacks prematurely. She proceeded to the nearby home of her daughter, Chelsea, to recuperate.

“Secretary Clinton attended the September 11th commemoration ceremony for just an hour and thirty minutes this morning to pay her respect and greet some of the families of the fallen,” said a spokesman for the Democratic nominee. “Duringat this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now rehydrated and recovering nicely.”

This was uncharacteristic candour from the disclosure-averse Mrs Clinton, indicating the potential calamitousness of her stumble. It comes at a perilous time for her campaign, with recent polls suggesting her once-ample lead over Mr Trump has shrivelled to around three percentage points—almost within the margin for error.

Making matters worse, conspiracy theories have long circulated among her enemies on the right about the supposedly poor state of her health, triggered by an episode in 2012 in which she fainted, suffered a concussion, and was subsequently found to have a blood clot. Mrs Clinton has since been given a clean bill of health by her doctors. Yet Mr Trump