Donald Trump’s mysterious bandaged hand has made its red carpet debut at Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors.
The president and first lady, Melania Trump, walked the red carpet at the event that honored the careers of MAGA-approved performers including rock band Kiss, action film star Sylvester Stallone, disco diva Gloria Gaynor and country singer George Strait.
The back of the 79-year-old’s right hand, clearly visible on the red carpet, was snapped by a keen-eyed photographer showing the president sporting two Band-Aids, which have yet to be explained.
The president typically uses a slathering of makeup to conceal ongoing bruising on his right hand.
Trump’s liberal use of flesh-colored concealer on his problematic hand on Sunday night was also visible under the two Band-Aids.
The Band-Aids marked the latest in a string of appearances over the past week in which the president was photographed sporting the medical dressing.
The president was first spotted with two large Band-Aids on his hand during a Cabinet meeting last Tuesday. That had downsized to one Band-Aid by Wednesday, during an Oval Office event.
By Thursday, Trump’s swollen hand made headlines at an event with the president of the Republic of Rwanda and the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When contacted on Thursday about the Band-Aid, the White House did not directly address the bandages on the presidential hand, instead sending a pre-prepared response that has been used multiple times in the past.
“President Trump is a man of the people and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other President in history,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day.”
On Saturday, Trump had returned to two Band-Aids at a dinner at the State Department in Washington, D.C. ahead of the State Department Kennedy Center Honors dinner, where the bandages made a return appearance.
During that event, Trump introduced Stallone, also 79, as “a friend of mine, a wonderful person, a really spectacular person, one of the true great movie stars there are,“ but mispronounced his surname as “Sylvester ‘Sly’ Sallone.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Previously, the White House has attributed Trump’s ongoing bruising as “minor soft tissue irritation” caused by the frequent handshaking as well as his of aspirin, which he takes as “part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regime.”
The White House has frequently deflected media questions on that omnipresent bruising by referring to a medical report released on July 17, which said the president had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, meaning the leg veins are not pushing blood back to the heart as they should.
The White House said in July it was a “benign and common condition” usually seen in individuals over 70.
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