Tim Kaine Ready 'To Be The President' If Needed, Former Ohio Governor Says

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a strong surrogate for Hillary Clinton, introduced vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine at a rally Monday as read "to be the president" if that ever becomes necessary.

Strickland, who is running for U.S. Senate, made the remarks at a high school in Dayton where Kaine was about to speak. The comments came a day after Clinton abruptly left a 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan for an illness. Her campaign later said she had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.

"I've known Sen. Kaine for quite some time," Strickland said, according to the Washington Examiner. "He is a wonderfully prepared person to be the vice president and to be the president, if that ever became necessary. He has a wonderful background of leadership, and Tim Kaine stands for the right things."

Kaine, a senator from Virginia, dismissed Clinton's sickness when he took the stage. He said he spoke with Clinton on Sunday and said she was cracking jokes.

"Within a few minutes after I heard the news, I had reached to communicate to her," Kaine said, according to the Washington Examiner, "and she reached right back out to me and said, 'No, I'm going to be fine,' and then she started to make fun of me because I was sitting, reading endless debate prep memos, and she said, you know, 'Our staff knows how to kill a lot of stress by putting together massive books.'"

"So she was immediately responding back and joking around, but I know you're thinking about her, and I am, too," Kaine continued. "Her energy staggers me. I have a hard time keeping up. And we know she's going to be fantastic, she'll be a fantastic president."

Still, Strickland's comments were slightly jarring at a time when Clinton's campaign is trying to downplay any speculation that she isn't healthy enough to take office. Clinton is taking time off the campaign trail to recover from the pneumonia.

Some far-right circles have tried to advance thin arguments that she is failing in health, claims that have been dismissed by the Clinton campaign as baseless speculation.

"There have been efforts for a long time to imply that she is not healthy," Strickland told reporters after the event, according to the Columbus Dispatch. "I think that is part of her political enemies' attempt to conjure up a rumor that could hurt her politically. I don’t think there’s any evidence she has any serious chronic, health conditions that could make it difficult for her to serve as president.”

Image via Rick Uldricks, Patch Staff