Who's bugging Obama? President loses his cool during speech when pesky fly assails him

Don't you wish sometimes you were a fly on a wall in the White House?

One brazen little insect did one better Thursday, landing on the forehead of President Obama as he announced his nominees to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The normally stoic commander-in-chief appeared visibly distracted with the bothersome bug buzzing around him. At one point, Mr Obama even noted, 'This guy's bothering me here.'

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Fly away: A fly lands between the eyes of U.S. President Barack Obama while he speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House Bothersome bugs: President Barack Obama tries to wave away a fly that disturbed him during a speech in in the State Dining Room of the White House in 2013 The fly's persistence looks like it is beginning to test the President's patience

Serious event: The fly incident came before ex-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY Mary Jo White (center) and Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray (left) look the podium

This was not the newly re-elected president’s first encounter with pesky pests.

In 2008, Mr Obama was flipping burgers on a grill for a photo-op while campaigning in Iowa when he was swarmed by flies, according to the L.A. Times.

But the most memorable insect-related moment in his presidency to date came in 2009, when Obama killed a fly during an interview with CNBC at the White House.



'Get out of here,' Obama said as the fly buzzed him during his interview. The pest persisted, and when it landed on his left forearm, Obama smacked it, according to Reuters.



'Now, where were we?' the president said without missing a beat. Pleased with himself, he added, 'That was pretty impressive, wasn't it? I got the sucker.'

Several observers in the room gave congratulatory shout-outs. Obama pointed to the floor and instructed an obliging cameraman to get a close-up of the tiny corpse.

Obama swats at a fly as he speaks in the East Room of the White House, June 22, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Despite the unwanted attention, Obama delivered speech regarding the ongoing effort to implement new laws relating to national health care legislation across the country

How annoying. The fly clearly wants to make a name for itself on the 90-day anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act in June 22, 2010

But perhaps the most memorable was in 2009, when he killed a fly during an on-camera interview with CNBC at the White House. The move drew a rebuke from PETA, which sent him a 'Humane Bug Catcher'

'It's like he's got one of those fly Terminator targeting systems in his eyes,' said an awed Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

Late-night comics gushed about the deadly confrontation for days.

Photo-bombed: A bird flies over a billboard for President Obama in Kosovo in 2009

'That's some pretty impressive hand-eye coordination right there,' Jimmy Fallon gushed. 'Makes Obama look like a bad ass.'

Many animal rights activists, however, were not amused by the president's prowess.



PETA wasted no time issuing a statement sternly scolding the commander-in-chief for taking an innocent life, and even sent him a humane Bug Catcher.



'We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals,' PETA spokesman Bruce Freidrich explained at the time.

This time around, however, the fly took its revenge for its fallen brethren.

As it circled around the president during his speech introducing Mary Jo White as the nominee for the SEC chairmanship, Obama tried to squish it, but to no avail.

One can speculate that perhaps the 51-year-old president's catlike reflexes have dulled over the past four years, or perhaps he is still trying to recover from his raucous inauguration festivities.

