Mike Pence's Bloodshot Eye at Debate Prompts Concern From Viewers

There’s concern over the health of Vice President Mike Pence after Wednesday night’s debate. Millions of viewers noticed redness in his left eye — a possible early sign of COVID-19.

Anywhere from 11% to 30% of COVID positive patients can have pink eye. Inside Edition spoke to New York ophthalmologist Dr. Annie Negrin for her opinion.

“See that little blotch of red? That’s a popped blood vessel. Why it did? Tough to say,” Negrin said.

The candidates were separated by two plexiglass screens, but an infectious disease expert said they would not have offered much protection if anyone had COVID-19.

“The barrier isn't going to make a big difference,” University of Maryland Professor Donald Milton told Inside Edition. “Think about if one of the debaters had had a cigarette. Would the cigarette smoke have gotten around the barrier and to the other person’s? You would expect that a little bit would have.”

The debate, although calmer than last week’s between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, had its own sharp moments.

The moderator, USA Today’s Susan Page, had a testy exchange with Pence. “I did not create the rules for tonight. Your campaigns agreed to the rules for tonight's debate with the commission on presidential debates. I am here to enforce them,” Page said.

And in perhaps the most viral moment of the night, a fly landed on Pence's head and stayed there for about two minutes. It became a sensation on social media. Pence didn’t know it was there.

“As soon as I walked off the debate stage that was all anyone was talking about. The fly was definitely a fourth character there on stage,” Page told Inside Edition.

Despite requirements that every spectator must wear masks, at the close of the debate, Pence's wife Karen took her mask off before coming on stage. Senator Kamala Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff kept his mask on.

Debate organizers had warned that if anyone took off their masks and refused to put them back on, they would be escorted out by law enforcement.

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