Politicians join ‘quarantine beard’ phenomenon

Sen. Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist and graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, debuted a photo of himself donning some face scruff while sharing news that he was volunteering at a local hospital after recovering from a mild coronavirus case. In his first post-coronavirus interview earlier this week, the Kentucky Republican revealed a full face of hair.

Former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s early weeks in social isolation coincided with the first month after he ended his presidential campaign. It is not clear which major event prompted him to grow a small beard, which he revealed in an Instagram Live conversation at the end of March. In an April 1 tweet, Buttigieg posted a picture that he also got a buzzcut.

Buttigieg’s beard, however, did not last. In television appearances this week, the former mayor was clean-shaven.

California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who ran a short-lived Democratic presidential campaign, had a notable beard in a video shared on Twitter last week. Swalwell has let his stubble grow out a bit from time to time in the past but usually appears clean-shaven in professional settings.

While other politicians maintain their normal beardless faces, what is it that compels these men to put the razor down?

For clean-shaven Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, who now has a fairly full beard visible in live streams, lack of appearing in public seems to have pushed him to abandon his normal shaving routine.

“When you’re quarantined and hanging out in your basement and dealing with this whole coronavirus thing, I thought, ‘You know what, I’ll let it go for a couple of days,’” Thune told the Hill. “And my wife didn’t complain too much about it. So I will see. I know it’s not really consistent with my image.”

(John Thune/Facebook/Screenshot)

Other new beards have appeared on Democratic California Reps. Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman, Republican House candidate and California Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, who is running for Congress in an open seat that straddles the Nevada state line, and Republican Wisconsin state Rep. Tyler Vorpagel.

(Mike Thompson/Facebook/Screenshot)

It’s possible that some political quarantine beards will remain hidden from public view. Not all elected officials have regularly revealed their faces in photos or livestreams during the coronavirus shutdown.

A word of caution to those with new beards: A beard could make wearing a protective face mask less effective, as the hair will leave a space between the skin and the mask for air and virus particles to travel through. A 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention graphic demonstrates which facial hair fashions are safest under a respirator, though it was designed for those who wear facial protection for work rather than with the COVID-19 virus in mind.

The CDC’s guidance to wear a face mask in public adds another set of public presentation and fashion considerations for politicians.

While some worry that bears could harbor coronavirus germs, a 2019 study found that men’s beards had more harmful bacteria than those found on dogs’ necks, experts say that there is no hard evidence that beards make a person more vulnerable to the virus. They recommenced, though, that men with beards be sure to clean it thoroughly.

The men who have grown beards join a could group of distinctive political furry faces, such as Republican Texas Sen. Tex Cruz, Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw.