Donald Trump sniffled repeatedly throughout Monday night’s debate at Hofstra University, apparently suffering from an itchy or stuffed-up nose

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Someone pass Donald Trump a tissue, quick.

Trump sniffled repeatedly throughout Monday night’s first presidential debate, suffering with an itchy or stuffed-up nose that distracted viewers as he argued against Hillary Clinton – despite months of declaring himself the “healthiest candidate ever”.

Clinton v Trump: what we learned from the first presidential debate Read more

Mashable edited together a little video of the sniffling:

While Trump had access to a glass of water, there was no handkerchief in sight.

Trump’s sniffles were particularly unfortunately timed after he called into question his rival’s stamina and his supporters hounded Clinton over her health and occasional coughing fits for months, claiming they were part of larger health issues she supposedly suffered following a fall and blood clot in 2012.

After video of Clinton almost fainting during a 9/11 memorial event in New York, Clinton admitted that she’d been diagnosed with pneumonia and spent four days off the campaign trail.

With both candidates in their late 60s, the issue of health has dominated the campaign. After the pneumonia diagnosis, Clinton released in-depth health records from her doctor and Trump spoke with TV host Dr Oz about his own health. Clinton is known to suffer from seasonal allergies, but Trump’s records don’t show anything to explain the sniffling.

But #Trumpsniffles quickly became a popular topic on Twitter on Monday evening – at least amongst those on the political left (Trump supporters seemed to ignore the sniffing completely).

Stu Loeser, a Democratic strategist and former spokesman to then New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, kept a tally of the nasal-drip sniffles going throughout the debate.

Stu Loeser (@stuloeser) Twelve of those snorts so far. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Others reveled in the schadenfreude of Trump suffering a health issue.

Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) DEBATE HOUR 2: THE SNIFFENING

Sophia (@sopeaslee) Donald Trump's nose is running faster than the jobs leaving this country #TrumpSniffles #debatenight

Clinton made no mention of Trump’s sniffles during the debate.

