WATCH: CNN Economist Swallows a Fly Mid-Sentence and Keeps Talking About Jobs Numbers

University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers had his CNN interview interrupted on Saturday when a fly flew straight into his mouth.

Wolfers was speaking with CNN’s Omar Jimenez about the jobs numbers released on Friday when the insect made its sudden entrance.

“The good news is the U.S. labor market, roughly speaking, has been The Little Engine That Could. It’s not earning an A+ in anyone’s book, but it does seem remarkably resilient so far. But, all resilient until the day that we’re not,” Wolfers was explaining.

Suddenly, a fly flew directly into his mouth, causing him to begin coughing.

Jimenez kept talking as Wolfers choked down the bug.

“You know, I just wonder, like, as we look ahead, everyone is looking — maybe not everyone — but, folks like yourself are looking at the Fed and trying to figure out, okay, we have these economic indicators, maybe the job market is a little softer, but how do you think the Fed is going to read this, considering they didn’t hike interest rates at the last meeting?” Jimenez asked.

“Mate, I just swallowed a fly on live television!” Wolfers responded.

“I was trying to keep talking while you were coughing, so you could figure it out. It’s all good!” Jimenez replied.

“Aussies love eating flies!”

“It might actually be a metaphor, because the biggest thing going on at the Fed is Kevin Warsh feels like I do right now,” Wolfers said.

“Kevin Warsh doesn’t like talking about what’s going on, and it makes both of us a little harder to understand and a little harder to interpret,” Wolfers added. So, you can think of Kevin as having swallowed the fly as well. I might swallow a horse; that will get the fly as well.”

WATCH:

CNN economist Justin Wolfers swallowed a bug while live on air. pic.twitter.com/2y6mhfhmOe

— Cassandra MacDonald (@CassandraRules) August 9, 2026

After the segment, Wolfers responded to the incident in a post on X.

A fly just zipped into my mouth while gabbing on CNN. Next question was about the Fed, so I did what Kevin Warsh won’t—I swallowed hard and kept talking. I figure folks deserve some clarity about the economy.

(Postscript: The fly is dead. And I’m no longer a vegetarian.)

— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 8, 2026

He wrote:

A fly just zipped into my mouth while gabbing on CNN. Next question was about the Fed, so I did what Kevin Warsh won’t—I swallowed hard and kept talking. I figure folks deserve some clarity about the economy.

(Postscript: The fly is dead. And I’m no longer a vegetarian.)