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Karen Pence removes mask while joining husband Mike on VP debate stage, Internet says 'rules don’t apply to them'

Karen did have a mask on when she was seated in the audience and listening to the debate. However, she took it off when the respective spouses of the candidates joined them on stage at the conclusion of the debate

Second Lady Karen Pence decided to forego one of the most stressed upon rules of the Vice Presidential debate on Wednesday, October 7, by joining her husband at the end of the night without a face mask on.

The coronavirus safety rules dictated by debate moderator Susan Price before the face-off between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris began, clearly stated social distancing restrictions and that anyone in the audience must wear a mask. Also, if anyone except for the candidates failed to wear a mask, they would be escorted out of the arena. 

Karen did have a mask on when she was seated in the audience and listening to the debate. However, when the respective spouses of the candidates joined them on stage at the conclusion of the debate to wave at the audience, Karen took off her mask. Harris’s husband, Douglas Emhoff notably had his nose and mouth covered as he stood beside Harris. 

The fact did not go unnoticed by media. Following the debate, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow slammed her inability to follow the rules, pointing out that Pence had worked in close proximity with President Donald Trump who contracted the virus last week. “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,” said Maddow. “You know what? You could save lives if you would do that. You might, in fact, be saving somebody’s life in the room right now if, in fact, your husband was exposed to a COVID-infected person in the past week, which he was.” Vox journalist Aaron Rupar also tweeted a picture of the moment when Karen decided to flout the safety protocol. 

Soon enough, his tweet went viral and people started slamming Karen for not following the rules. "Mother doesn’t wear masks. She wears only her displeasure for other women," one said, while another quick to point out that Karen was not even holding her husband's hands as she stood beside him. A third wondered, "What happened to everyone except the candidates had to wear masks or be escorted out. Rules don’t apply to them."

Another user asked, "I thought they were going to kick anybody on the audience out if they weren’t wearing a mask? What the actual f**k??" One more opined, "It’s like Trump turns everyone around him into sociopaths. Or perhaps just attracts them." Someone else wrote, "Once again spitting in the face of the American people!" Another user was convinced that both Mike and Karen had been infected with the virus. "Its the only way we are now going to explain why Mike looked so sick. He actually has COVID and he got it from Karen.. I can hear it the song now 'Stand by your man' Its why he lost the debate, its why he could not focus and answer the questions etc etc etc" 

However, there were those who did not think it was a big deal for Karen to forego the mask. "Is she a risk to Mike, her husband? Enough with the need to model mask wearing where not at all needed," one said, while another wrote, "Aaron, did Kamala's husband kiss her with his mask? Please say no. I think Doug and Kamala should have agreed ahead of time not to get close to each other after being in that infested room. In the only closing shots I saw, he got that mask on her right shoulder or side or her head. This is just scary s**t to be concerned over these things."