Rudy Giuliani hair dye gaffe captures social media's attention

Rudy Giuliani speaking, as hair dye runs down his face. EPA

Lawyer to US President Donald Trump and former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani gave a press conference on Thursday to make unfounded claims of voter fraud during the November presidential election lost by Mr Trump.

As a sweaty Mr Giuliani spoke from the headquarters of the Republican National Committee in Washington, dark streaks of liquid began to stream down his face, distracting viewers. The images of Mr Giuliani with a brown stain dripping from his hairline to his chin quickly went viral online.

Many believed the liquid to be hair dye, but the New York Times spoke with hairdressers who dismissed the idea. Instead, they suggested the coloured liquid could be a type of mascara or a liquid makeup applied to Mr Giuliani's sideburns, where hair turns grey more easily.

"In the picture, it looks really heavy," Mirko Vergani, the creative colour director at a Manhattan salon told the New York Times.

“I’m sure they put too much product and that’s why it started to bleed.”

Mr Giuliani was addressing the media to make the case, without evidence, that voter fraud occurred during the November presidential election.

Mr Giuliani was joined by other lawyers of Mr Trump as they berated reporters for questioning their claims and cited a Michigan affidavit already dismissed by a judge.

They also argued a debunked conspiracy theory that Venezuela could have hacked election results through machines used by local authorities. The conspiracy theory originated with the founder of 8chan, a messaging board popular among alt-right conspiracists.

“I know crimes. I can smell them,” Mr Giuliani said as streaks of sweat ran down the sides of his face. “You don’t have to smell this one. I can prove it to you 18 different ways.”

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday accused Mr Trump of brazenly damaging democracy by attempting to reverse his election loss through baseless fraud claims.

Mr Trump was behind "incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions," Mr Biden told reporters in his home state of Delaware.

"It's hard to fathom how this man thinks," said Biden. "I'm confident he knows he hasn't won, is not going to be able to win and we're going to be sworn in January 20th."