--- title: Fly on Mike Pence's Head: Star of Vice Presidential Debate description: The unlikely star of the first and only vice presidential debate? A fly that landed on Mike Pence's head. canonical: https://time.com/5897766/vp-debate-fly/ author: Lissandra Villa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-10-08T04:49:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:55.827Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here’s the Buzz on the Fly in Mike Pence’s Hair at the Vice Presidential Debate og:description: The unlikely star of the first and only vice presidential debate? A fly that landed on Mike Pence's head. og:url: https://time.com/5897766/vp-debate-fly/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58a693b817585654/698a12fd096a947c476a8b17/mike-pence-debate-fly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Vice Presidential Debate 2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here’s the Buzz on the Fly in Mike Pence’s Hair at the Vice Presidential Debate twitter:description: The unlikely star of the first and only vice presidential debate? A fly that landed on Mike Pence's head. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58a693b817585654/698a12fd096a947c476a8b17/mike-pence-debate-fly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s the Buzz on the Fly in Mike Pence’s Hair at the Vice Presidential Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch: A Fly Lands on Mike Pence's Head During Vice Presidential Debate [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Fly Lands on Mike Pence's Head During Vice Presidential Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fx9G35YE.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2020-10-08. A fly landed on Vice President Mike Pence's head during his debate with Sen. Kamala Harris._  by [Lissandra Villa](https://time.com/author/lissandra-villa/)  ## Lissandra Villa Oct 8, 2020 4:49 AM UTC  Vice President Mike Pence listens to Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris during the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7, 2020, in Utah in Salt Lake City. Vice President Mike Pence listens to Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris during the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7, 2020, in Utah in Salt Lake City. Patrick Semansky—AP  by [Lissandra Villa](https://time.com/author/lissandra-villa/)  ## Lissandra Villa Oct 8, 2020 4:49 AM UTC Here’s the thing: 2020 is hard and there hasn’t been a ton of joy to bring around smiles. People have been grasping for any little thing that brings them happiness and lightens the moment. Which is part of the reason why when a fly landed on Vice President Mike Pence’s head during [the vice presidential debate](https://time.com/5897512/vice-presidential-debate-live-updates/) on Wednesday night, everyone buzzed about it. Watch it come in for the landing: This wasn’t just a short visit either. The little guy hung on for a while. (For about two minutes and two seconds. Yes we timed it, you’re welcome.)  People watch the debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris outside a tavern in San Diego, Calif., on Oct. 7, 2020. Mike Blake—Reuters If Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, or moderator Susan Page noticed, they did not say anything, but they were likely [very focused on what Pence was actually saying](https://time.com/5897757/vp-debate-mike-pence-women/)**.** It’s hard to separate the moment from Pence’s words: At the time, Pence was calling it an “insult” to law enforcement to presume that systemic racism and bias against Black people by police exist. The Trump Administration has repeatedly [touted law and order instead of trying to empathize](https://time.com/5894497/donald-trump-white-supremacists-debate/) with the racial justice protests that have been widespread this year, even as that systemic racism has repeatedly been laid bare, including with the recent [deaths of George Floyd](https://time.com/5847967/george-floyd-protests-trump/) and [Breonna Taylor.](https://time.com/5891537/brett-hankison-indicted-wanton-endangerment-breonna-taylor/) **Read more:** [_Mike Pence’s Vice Presidential Debate Lecture to Kamala Harris Isn’t Likely to Help Trump With Women_](https://time.com/5897757/vp-debate-mike-pence-women/) But obviously, people outside the room immediately took note of what was happening, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tweeted that the “election is fly-ing by. Make sure to make a plan to vote.” The Biden campaign immediately saw an opportunity to fundraise and swooped in. > [](https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1314028914176667649) > [](https://twitter.com/VeraMBergen/status/1314034679616622597) A Twitter account named Mike Pence’s Fly had more than 78,000 followers on Twitter shortly after the debate ended. Its Twitter bio was “I’m a fly.” > [](https://twitter.com/MikePenceFly%5F%5F%5F/status/1314042739382648832) **Read more:**[_The Biggest Moments of the Vice Presidential Debate_](https://time.com/5897512/vice-presidential-debate-live-updates/) People were already speculating about who would be cast as the fly on _Saturday Night Live_ alongside Beck Bennett as Pence. > [](https://twitter.com/ImLibo/status/1314037072039079938) And of course, there were many, many, many puns. > [](https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1314046565695262721) Thank you, fly, for helping the debate fly by. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5897766/vp-debate-fly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5897766/vp-debate-fly/"},"headline":"Here’s the Buzz on the Fly in Mike Pence’s Hair at the Vice Presidential Debate","datePublished":"2020-10-08T04:49:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:43:55.827Z","description":"The unlikely star of the first and only vice presidential debate? 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