# Mike Pence Fly

> The debate fly became merchandise, with nearly 35,000 fly swatters sold overnight.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Moment
- Sector: Politics & civic
- Seed date: 2020-10-07
- Peak date: 2020-10-08
- Spread Score: 59 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Response chain, Platform jump, Press loop, Political adoption, Controversy

## Summary

A fly landed on Mike Pence during the vice-presidential debate. Viewers posted clips, jokes and parody accounts; Biden's campaign sold fly swatters. SNL turned it into a sketch, and Lizzo wore a fly costume for Halloween.

## Timeline

- 2020-10-07 — Debate viewers (TV) — A fly landed on Mike Pence's hair during his debate with Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City.
- 2020-10-07 — @eddyburback (X) — Eddy Burback posted one of the earliest Twitter clips of the fly at 10:20 p.m. Eastern time.
- 2020-10-07 — CBS San Francisco (Press) — CBS San Francisco reported the fly and the Twitter reactions on debate night.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/mike-pence-fly

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Mike Pence Fly.” Case HIS-00298. Spread Score v1.2: 59/100. Updated 2026-10-12. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00298