Another person was especially struck by the apparent change to his profile and exclaimed, “His nose is different!😭😭” The scrutiny continued on , where one commenter focused on Chao’s hand. “The hand not holding his arm looks really weird. No fingernail and also the thumb is too short.”
A second commenter offered a much more detailed comparison with older images. “His hair is darker than it was before he was hospitalized. It also appears he had a nose job. His nose in this image is considerably different than it was in the previous released image, and even more considerably different than before he was hospitalized [sic].”
The remarks reflected viewers’ interpretations of a single photograph. McConnell’s office did not suggest that he had undergone any cosmetic procedure, nor did its medical update address the specific facial or hand details questioned in the comments.
