“Uh, hey, guys. Joe Biden’s eye filled with blood while onstage at the CNN town hall. This is not a photoshop,” Benny Johnson, a political columnist, and chief creative officer at conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA wrote on Twitter.
CNN hosted the seven-hour long forum, which began at 5 p.m. ET., to discuss climate change. Biden, 76, was among ten Democrat presidential candidates who gathered to share their thoughts and take questions from the crowd.
Most Twitter users, however, stayed sensible and said Biden’s red eye is due to a subconjunctival hemorrhage—a blood vessel that had burst under the most superficial layer of the eye, the conjunctiva, which is transparent.
“It’s subconjunctival hemorrhages, usually due to [hypertension], diabetes, or hardened arteries, common in the elderly.” one Twitter user, whose profile indicated that he works in the medical field, commented. “Contrary to what it looks like, it’s relatively benign.”
Subconjunctival hemorrhage can be caused by several different conditions, including bleeding disorders, blood thinners, high blood pressure, excessive exercise, or strain.
Sometimes, however, the cause cannot be deduced and is regarded as “idiopathic”—that is, “just because.”
“It is usually nothing, but then again, it is usually caused by some mild trauma,” a Twitter user wrote after asserting that it was a subconjunctival hemorrhage.
“Biden still has clotting troubles. He had a close-to-terminal brain hemorrhage at age 44. Access to Walter Reed saved his life,” one Twitter user noted.
Biden unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. That same year, at aged 44, Biden suffered two aneurysms in his brain, months apart, for which he underwent two surgeries, according to the Washington Examiner.
Doctors said Biden had a 50 percent chance of surviving the surgery and even more of a chance he would suffer from permanent brain damage if he survived, Biden’s wife Jill said in an autobiography, the news outlet reported.
“That’s a burst blood vessel—happened to me 2 yrs ago,” another Twitter user commented on a video that showed Biden’s red eye. “That’s the least of his problems—he is in mental decline.”
Biden has been copping media spotlight for his various apparent memory lapses. He has regularly gotten dates, people, and places mixed up. They’re usually referred to as “gaffes” or “verbal stumbles,” but others argue the mixups are a possible sign of cognitive issues.
If Biden happens to win the 2020 presidential election, he would hold the record for being the oldest person to be inaugurated. Currently, Donald Trump holds that record, having assumed office at the age of 70 years and 220 days.
