Politics

Mike Pence Says He Didn't Even Realize There Was a Fly on His Head During the Debate

Afterward, Pence's children "all told me, 'Dad, you did okay,' but they did tell me about the fly," he said Monday

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Published on October 13, 2020 10:55 AM

Vice President Mike Pence responded Monday to the most buzz-worthy moment of last week's debate with Sen. Kamala Harris: the two minutes and three seconds in which a fly settled onto his hair in full view of the audience and cameras.

Apparently, Pence, 61, was completely ignorant of the fly's seeming attraction to his hair.

“I didn’t know he was there,” he said on Fox News' The Daily Briefing.

Pence, chuckling, added that he learned about the moment from his children upon leaving the debate stage.

“They all told me, ‘Dad, you did okay,’ but they did tell me about the fly," he said. "It was a good laugh for all of us."

The insect in question made his debate appearance near the end of the event, when Pence answered questions and responded to Harris, Democratic nominee Joe Biden's running mate.

The moment quickly went viral, spawning countless memes, GIFs and, of course, parody accounts. Even Saturday Night Live satirized the debate in its most recent episode — with Jim Carrey appearing as Biden, who then teleported into the debate and transformed, The Fly-style, into the winged creature before landing on Pence's head.

The Biden-Harris campaign wasted no time in capitalizing on the bug as well. Shortly after the strange and silly moment, Biden's Twitter account posted an old photo of himself holding a fly swatter, captioned: "Pitch in $5 to help this campaign fly."

Less than two hours after the debate had ended, the campaign began hawking $10 "Truth Over Flies" swatters. The 35,000 swatters reportedly sold out within hours.

Other fly-related merchandise has since cropped up on online retailers, including Etsy, where consumers can now purchase "Truth Over Flies" and "Pretty Fly For a White Guy" sweatshirts.