'The fly' steals the show during Mike Pence and Kamala Harris VP debate

8 October 2020, 06:24 | Updated: 8 October 2020, 08:24

Fly steals the show as it lands on Pence's head

On a night of high political drama in front of viewers around the world, hundreds of thousands of people were left talking about only one thing - a fly that sat on Mike Pence's head for several minutes.

Viewers of the vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris were distracted by the insect, with over 700,000 people tweeting about it.

The fly did not budge as the current vice president answered questions about racial injustice and whether justice has been done in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Even Joe Biden's campaign seized on the fly, registering the domain "flywillvote.com", and sharing a picture of the candidate holding a fly swatter.

One wag remarked the fly was "probably the most memorable thing to have happened" during the debate.

Former senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said the fly should be allowed a mail-in ballot.

Others joked about the need to test the fly for the coronavirus, as it had skirted the plexiglass partitions separating the candidates and moderator.

In 2016, a fly briefly landed between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's eyes during a town hall-style debate with now-President Donald Trump.

One person joked: "The fly decides which party loses the election."