Karen Pence removes mask before joining husband Mike on stage at VP debate

Vice president’s wife had been wearing one during debate but pulled it off to join her husband

Karen Pence removed her face mask as she walked on to the debate stage to congratulate her husband Mike following the vice presidential debate in Utah.

Ms Pence was seen wearing a mask as she watched the vice president debate with Democratic challenger Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City.

But as she mounted the stage she could be seen removing it before standing next to her husband.

Doug Emhoff, Ms Harris’s husband, kept his face mask on as he congratulated the California senator.

Ms Pence followed in the footsteps of Melania Trump, who also decided to forgo a mask when she joined Donald Trump on stage following the first presidential debate last Tuesday.

Several members of the president’s family refused to wear masks while sitting in the audience despite being asked to do so by health supervisors. In the early hours of Friday morning Mr Trump revealed that he and Melania had tested positive for coronavirus.

The president was hospitalised over the weekend but returned to the White House on Monday.

However, Mr Pence’s doctor said the vice president did not need to quarantine, despite having been at a White House event the previous Saturday to meet Amy Coney Barrett, Mr Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, which is now seen as a potential super-spreader event.

Dr Jesse Schonau said “Vice President Mike Pence remains in good health and is free to go about his normal activities”.

Ms Pence’s decision to remove her face mask at the debate was criticised by observers.

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow said: “His wife did not wear a mask when she was on stage at the end. Everybody other than the candidates and the moderator were supposed to be wearing a mask. Karen Pence was not wearing a mask at the end. You know what, you could save lives if you would do that.”

New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser tweeted: “So on brand that Karen Pence is not wearing a mask.”