An animal rights group is not thrilled with the “Truth Over Flies” fly swatter now being offered by Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden’s campaign.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — PETA — is coming down on the flies’ side following Tuesday night’s debate, which was punctuated by a fly that landed on Vice President Mike Pence’s head and stayed for a while.
The insect intrusion lit up social media and prompted the Biden campaign to offer a politically themed fly swatter to the candidate’s fans, priced at $10 and available online. The campaign promptly sold 15,000 of the swatters following the debate, according to InStyle, a fashion publication.
PETA, in the meantime, has sent a $13 humane bug catcher to the Biden campaign. It is not the first time the organization has used the contraption as a political statement.
“We guess it’s a tradition,” said PETA President Ingrid Newkirk on Thursday, recalling that two other high-profile Democrats also had their fly moments.
“Just as PETA sent humane bug catchers to candidate Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama after their televised insect encounters, we’re sending one to Joe Biden in the hope that his team will market these cruelty-free contraptions to kindhearted Americans, rather than taking their frustrations out on insects,” Ms. Newkirk advised.
Former White House adviser and presidential historian Tevi Troy, meanwhile, previously addressed the White House fly challenge in a 2010 essay for The Daily Caller.
“The fact that President Obama is facing flies on camera may indicate that the problem is getting worse. Under President Bush, it was not unheard of for policy briefings to be disturbed by the buzzing pests. In one economic briefing, for example, President Bush called a White House steward to shoo away a fly that was drawing more attention than the briefing itself. Before the steward could act, however, Karl Rove stepped up and nailed the pesky offender right near a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, eliciting kudos from those who had assembled — including the president himself,” Mr. Troy wrote at the time.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.