Anti-Trump Lincoln Project trolls Mike Pence over his eye at VP debate

Dozens of media figures, comedians, election analysts and doctors suggested that the vice president could have conjunctivitis, which is rare among Covid-19 patients

Viewers tuning into the 2020 vice presidential debate flooded social media to ask what happened to vice president Mike Pence’s left eye, which appeared bloodshot.

Dozens of media figures, comedians, election analysts and doctors – following a White House outbreak of Covid-19 that has infected more than a dozen people close to Donald Trump, including the president himself – suggested that the vice president could have conjunctivitis, which appears as a symptom among a minority of patients

The anti-Trump Republican PAC The Lincoln Project, which has aired several ads criticising the administration’s re-election efforts, also joined the dogpile.

Mr Pence has tested negative for the coronavirus daily since the president was hospitalised on Friday.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has also cleared the vice president to appear at the debate alongside Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

“He had a bloody eye and a fly on his head,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper mused after the debate.

Conjunctivitis in Covid-19 patients is rare, and it’s unclear what caused the redness in the vice president’s eye. But the vice president’s appearance throughout the 90-minute debate prompted a deluge of comments on social media about the condition.

Pink eye is an inflammation or infection of the transparent membrane lining the eyelid and covering the white part of the eye, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Inflamed blood vessels in the conjunctiva appear reddish or pink.

One analysis of Covid-19 patients experiencing conjunctivitis found that roughly 1 per cent among 1,167 patients had conjunctivitis-like symptoms.

The rate was higher, at roughly 3 per cent, for patients with more severe illness.

Senator Harris assessed the administration’s handling of the public health crisis as “the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.”

“They knew what was happening and they didn’t tell you,” she said. “They knew and they covered it up.”

The vice president touted his coronavirus task force and advancements in vaccine development, promising thousands of doses by the end of 2020, though medical experts have disputed the administration’s optimistic timeline.