Pence addresses fly on his head at vice presidential debate: 'I didn't know he was there'

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VP Pence on debate fly: My kids told me about it

Vice President Mike Pence addresses the fly that landed on his head at the vice presidential debate on 'The Daily Briefing.'

Vice President Mike Pence did not notice the fly that went viral after it landed on his head during last week's vice presidential debate against Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., he told “The Daily Briefing” on Monday.

The insect made its cameo more than halfway through the debate and hung around in Pence's silver hair for about two minutes.

"I didn't know he was there," Pence told host Dana Perino, adding that he found out about the bug from his children. 

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“I love my kids. I got a law school grad who is going to get married next year. I got a Navy wife who’s a published author and an incredible gal," Pence said. "My daughter actually helped me with debate prep and my Marine Corps son and his wife were there as well.

"They all told me, ‘Dad you did OK,' but they did tell me about the fly," the vice president added. "It was a good laugh for all of us."

The fly's appearance did not go unnoticed on social media, with one Twitter user writing, "The Chinese have clearly planted a bug on Pence!" 

Political figures also joined in with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, tweeting, "The deep state planted a bug on @VP. The illegal spying is really out of control."

The fly even became the centerpiece of a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that played out as a bizarre parody of the 1986 film "The Fly."

In the sketch, Democratic nominee Joe Biden  (played by Jim Carrey) attempts to teleport to the vice presidential debate to help Harris. However, as in the movie, Biden arrives in fly form after an insect finds its way into the machine. 

In addition to having Carrey's Biden morph into a fly, the sketch parodied the movie further by making him act like the film’s star, Jeff Goldblum. 

FLY LANDS ON PENCE'S HEAD DURING VP DEBATE, GOES VIRAL

Soon after, a second fly played by Kenan Thompson landed on top of Pence’s head declaring himself to be the late Herman Cain, who died at age 74 in July after being hospitalized due to the coronavirus. 

The sketch concluded with Harris, played by Maya Rudolph, pretending to swat the two flies on Pence’s head.

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Biden also referenced the fly, tweeting, "Pitch in $5 to help this campaign fly," along with the link "flywillvote.com" which redirected to iwillvote.com.

A "Truth Over Flies Fly Swatter" was also sold for $10 on the Biden campaign website under the new arrivals section.

Fox News’ David Aaro and Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.