The first and only vice presidential debate of the election took place on Wednesday evening and when it was all said and done all anyone could talk about was a fly.
Yes, that's right a small fly that landed on the head of Mike Pence managed to steal all the spotlight from the vice president and his opponent Kamala Harris.
The fly was reportedly on Pence's head for nearly two minutes and nobody, not even the debate moderator Susan Page said anything to alert the VP to his new friend.
At the time, Pence was explaining why he believes it is an "insult" to the police and law enforcement to suggest that their is systematic racism towards Black people in their institutions.
The fly did manage to distract from the controversial thing that Pence was saying it did prove to be perhaps the biggest talking point of the night as Twitter was soon buzzing with memes of the vice president and his insect companion.
‘Pretty fly for a white guy’ https://t.co/eqoNYTqF2j— Sanjeev Bhaskar💙 (@Sanjeev Bhaskar💙) 1602141622
“I just couldn’t stand by and listen to his lies any longer.” https://t.co/QCXUrEf4s0— Kyle Woods (@Kyle Woods) 1602123727
The fly spent longer on Pence’s head than Pence spent on the pandemic— Jess Dweck (@Jess Dweck) 1602124820
Mission Accomplished #VPDebate https://t.co/ySh7mqQvOv— Steven Renderos (@Steven Renderos) 1602123955
you gotta kinda respect how big that fly is. an “absolute unit” as they say.— Max Tani (@Max Tani) 1602123616
This fly thing on @Mike_Pence at the debate has a life of its own. https://t.co/WPmX85QabG— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) 1602141902
Omg. Even this cat saw the fly! https://t.co/NwxOuB69Db— ARonUNC 💡 (@ARonUNC 💡) 1602138465
There were predictably numerous mentions of the classic 1986 horror movie The Fly where Jeff Goldblum turns into a human/fly hybrid. We doubt that is going to happen to Pence but at least the tweets are funny.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. #flygate https://t.co/DmYNlUCxV2— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1602138119
https://t.co/dQg8Q8MZTs— oneohtrix point never (@oneohtrix point never) 1602123532
THE FLY (1986) | Director: David Cronenberg | #OnePerfectShot https://t.co/YEUAXbfZsH— Justin Chang (@Justin Chang) 1602123707
What we all need is Jeff Goldblum to reprise his role as “The Fly” on SNL. Please. Let’s start that buzzzz. https://t.co/bCaxuTflCQ— Natalia "Vaccinate Your Kids" Reagan 🐒🏳️🌈 (@Natalia "Vaccinate Your Kids" Reagan 🐒🏳️🌈) 1602128118
David Cronenberg’s ‘THE FLY’ (2020) https://t.co/37l3ga0iHD— Seth (@Seth) 1602142903
Even Joe Biden couldn't resist making fun of Pence's misfortune and has already launched flywillvote.com and is selling branded fly swatters on his official campaign website.
https://t.co/TtWm3i4eaq.— Joe Biden (@Joe Biden) 1602125056
Swats away flies and lies. Get yours today: https://t.co/ehsECKfDPO https://t.co/oVLHHmq85c— Team Joe (Text JOE to 30330) (@Team Joe (Text JOE to 30330)) 1602126865
Republican senator Rand Paul couldn't resist making a joke either.
The deep state planted a bug on @VP. The illegal spying is really out of control.— Senator Rand Paul (@Senator Rand Paul) 1602124045
Also, never forget how Obama dealt with a fly.
Dear Mike Pence: This is how you handle a fly https://t.co/MatKBQFXSl— MuslimMarine (@MuslimMarine) 1602132977
CNN's Anderson Cooper probably summed to whole debate up quite nicely in just a few seconds.
"He had a bloody eye and a fly on his head" -- Anderson Cooper on Pence https://t.co/5xo5lgNMMH— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1602126094
In terms of the actual debate it was nowhere near comparable to the embarrassing spectacle that we witnessed in the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden last week and was probably the better for it, with many considering Harris to be the victor although some would say otherwise.