If I'm a cable news network producer, the first interview I'm hunting down this morning is the fly that landed on Vice President Mike Pence's head during the one and only vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City last night. The fly stole the show and has a lot of questions to answer this morning.

First of all, with COVID-19 protocols in place and double plexiglass between candidates Pence and his Democrat rival Sen. Kamala Harris, how the hell did the fly get near the vice president in the first place? Right past the Secret Service no less.

Mike Pence And Kamala Harris Take Part In Vice Presidential Debate
Getty Images
loading...

Secondly, why Pence? Why didn't the fly land on Harris' head? Is the fly sexist? Or worse, is it *gasp* racist? Was the bug a bug? You know, a listening device? I'm sure some suspect the critter was attempting to drain information from Pence's mind before he could answer the questions. Perhaps Putin sent the fly to coach Pence during the debate.

Was Pence ever aware of the presence of the fly on his head? Did Kamala Harris ever resist the temptation to go over the slap it away? And the fly, what the hell was it thinking?

Mike Pence And Kamala Harris Take Part In Vice Presidential Debate
Getty Images
loading...

Many of the photos we use as part of our news and opinion pieces are obtained through Getty Images, a subscription service that many other media outlets also use. Eleven of the first 12 photos of the debate that were made available to us this morning by Getty Images prominently featured the fly on Pence's head. From every angle. This underscores the significance of something, though I admit, I am not sure what.

Fortunately, the fly provided many of us with a distraction during an otherwise uninspiring debate.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

More From WBSM-AM/AM 1420