Fly creates buzz at US vice presidential debate - and online
08 October, 2020
Oh to be a fly on the wall -- or in the hair -- at Wednesday's US vice presidential debate.
Mike Pence received an unwelcome visitor during his showdown with Democrat Kamala Harris when a huge fly perched on the vice president's white hair for just two minutes, triggering an avalanche of online commentary.
Pence was discussing the somber problem of racial injustice and police reform when the winged interloper outmaneuvered the plexiglass barriers installed to avoid the spread of coronavirus and landed on the person who is merely a heartbeat away from the US presidency.
And there it stayed. For. Two. Agonizing. Minutes.
A split tv set screen showed Harris looking at Pence as the fly basked in the spotlight, nonetheless it was not immediately clear if she saw it.
Everybody else apparently did.
Social media, perhaps in a collective lull given that the evening was a lot more civil than the chaotic opening clash between President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden last week, immediately pronounced the fly the winner of the debate.
"Ok, this is seriously important debate, but no one is gonna remember not that fly," tweeted a user named Sykersomatic.
"That fly was in Pence's hair a long time. It should quarantine," former Missouri secretary of state Jason Kander added, seemingly alluding to the rampant spread of the coronavirus through the White House's ranks.
Others suggested the critter look into Walter Reed, the military infirmary just outside Washington where Trump spend three nights acquiring treatment for Covid-19.
As the web banter snowballed, a fresh Twitter account, @MikePenceFly___, quickly racked up some 60,000 followers.
Even Biden himself got in on the action, fundraising off the insect drama.
"Pitch in $5 to greatly help this campaign fly," the Democratic nominee tweeted.
And on cue, the Joe Biden campaign store kicked into gear to provide a "Truth Over Flies Fly Swatter," for $10.
Source:
TAG(s):