Fly on Mike Pence's Head Steals Show as Hollywood Weighs in on Vice Presidential Debate

It was a starkly different show Wednesday night when the vice presidential candidates, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, took to the stage for the first and only vice presidential debate of the 2020 election season.

Both candidates appeared prepared, speaking eloquently -- if evasively -- on the various topics brought up. And for the most part, they were much more cordial to one another than Biden and Trump.

That meant for viewers, it was a far less volatile experience and one that actually enabled them to hear what the candidates had to say. And when either of them bothered to stick to the talking points presented, or actually answer the questions, this was the first chance for voters to actually hear and attempt to understand their respective platforms.

It also came at the cost of a far less lively debate, though there were certainly moments between the two candidates where they threw digs at one another, or Harris pointedly told Pence that she was talking now, thank you very much.

Sadly for both candidates, as this was their only chance to shine as the leads on a debate stage, they were both ultimately overshadowed completely on social media by an unexpected and very tiny visitor to the stage.

Unbeknownst to this little insect as it alighted on a bright white surface for a breather, it was about to become world famous. Immediately, the fly that landed on Pence's hair while he was talking about Breonna Taylor and systemic racism (which he doesn't believe) became an internet sensation, stealing the hearts of frustrated Americans everywhere.

It also immediately racked up a Twitter page (well, more than one) all to itself, and even the Biden campaign wasted no time in capitalizing on its monumental popularity with a hilarious picture of Joe Biden holding up a flyswatter alongside a slogan asking supporters to "help this campaign fly."

The campaign then quickly nabbed up the flywillvote.com domain, smartly redirecting it to the iwillvote.com to take advantage of the humorous viral energy of the moment to encourage people to get registered and be a part of the democratic process.

And just as quickly as Donald Trump had t-shirts emblazoned with "Fill That Seat" for sale on his campaign site after he made it a rallying cry following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by the end of the debate, Biden had fly swatters for sale on his campaign site with the message, "Truth Over Flies."

The fly quickly replaced the other non-issue -- yet still Pence related -- obsession that seemed to dominate social media: Pence's eyes. They appeared pinkish in the whites, with an even more starkly reddish outer edge to his left eye.

While some speculated this could be indicative that the vice president also contracted Covid, alongside Trump, the first lady and a slew of White House officials, Pence has not said that he has ever tested positive. And so, all that was left was the speculation ... and that's certainly something Twitter excels at.

Hollywood quickly jumped into the fray, having as much fun with Pence's red eyes and errant visitor as the rest of America amid a tumultuous election season, with the best response going to Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath with a perfect reference to one of their biggest hits:

While there were still problems with interruptions and going long, debate moderator Susan Page of USA Today didn't spend nearly as much time trying to get the candidates to shut up as Chris Wallace did last week.

And there was certainly less interruptions and talking over one another, save one moment when Pence bowled over Harris answering a question and just kept talking despite Page trying to get him to stop multiple times.

Mostly, though, this was the polar opposite of last week's debacle, with both candidates having plenty of time to talk and even occasionally answer Page's questions.

Pence dodged a few of them entirely by simply talking about whatever he wanted no matter what the question was and talked all around others, like whether or not Trump would accept the election's outcome.

Harris, as an example, followed Biden's lead last week and sidestepped answering Pence's direct question on whether or not Biden would "stack" the Supreme Court by expanding the number of Justices on it, instead talking about Trump "stacking" other federal courts.

And, of course, with Hollywood's liberal slant, most of their views fell more favorably upon Harris, while Pence took the majority of their scorn.