--- title: Vice Presidential Debate: Web Loved 'That Mexican Thing' description: Once again, a poorly worded phrase at a debate took on a life of its own online. canonical: https://time.com/4519044/vice-presidential-debate-mexican-thing/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-05T04:11:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:31.768Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'That Mexican Thing' Took on a Life of Its Own Online og:description: A phrase from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence at the debate. og:url: https://time.com/4519044/vice-presidential-debate-mexican-thing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14f6dfc951e168ba/6988a8b097cdff40886ae08f/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'That Mexican Thing' Took on a Life of Its Own Online twitter:description: A phrase from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence at the debate. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14f6dfc951e168ba/6988a8b097cdff40886ae08f/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'That Mexican Thing' Took on a Life of Its Own Online > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 5, 2016 4:11 AM UTC  Vice presidential nominees Tim Kaine and Mike Pence speak with debate moderator Elaine Quijano during the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. on Oct. 4, 2016. Vice presidential nominees Tim Kaine and Mike Pence speak with debate moderator Elaine Quijano during the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. on Oct. 4, 2016. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 5, 2016 4:11 AM UTC Once again, a poorly worded phrase at a debate took on a life of its own online. At Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine had again referenced [Donald Trump’s campaign launch](http://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/), in which he said that Mexico was sending rapists to the U.S. “You whipped out that Mexican thing again,” Pence replied, peevishly. Reaction on Twitter was quick, especially among Latinos. The hashtag #thatmexicanthing soon filled with Clinton supporters and Trump critics. > [](https://twitter.com/AndieMarie888/status/783508565252243456) > [](https://twitter.com/TUSK81/status/783501815522340864) > [](https://twitter.com/senatorshoshana/status/783499312261165056) By the end of the debate, some anonymous wag had registered the website [thatMexicanthing.com](http://thatMexicanthing.com) and redirected it to Hillary Clinton’s website. The moment was the third most tweeted moment on Twitter, behind the two vice presidential nominees discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the global use of nuclear weapons. Overall, the Republican ticket far outstripped the two Democrats in share of the conversation online, on both Facebook and Twitter—[meaning more people were talking about them](http://time.com/4229252/google-twitter-presidential-elections-predictions-analysis/), negative or positive. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4519044/vice-presidential-debate-mexican-thing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4519044/vice-presidential-debate-mexican-thing/"},"headline":"'That Mexican Thing' Took on a Life of Its Own Online","datePublished":"2016-10-05T04:11:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:31.768Z","description":"Once again, a poorly worded phrase at a debate took on a life of its own online.","url":"https://time.com/4519044/vice-presidential-debate-mexican-thing/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Mike Pence","Debates","Tim Kaine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14f6dfc951e168ba/6988a8b097cdff40886ae08f/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14f6dfc951e168ba/6988a8b097cdff40886ae08f/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Debate","caption":"Vice Presidential Debate Between Gov. 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