Many expected Tuesday nightâs vice presidential debates to be a pretty boring affair. So when Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) used his opening lines to thank âNorwood Universityâ for their âwonderful hospitality,â debate watchers went wild on Twitter.
Thatâs because Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia was hosting the debate, not Norwood U â which doesnât exist. But that didnât stop it from trending on Twitter minutes after the GOP vice presidential candidateâs gaffe.
Fact-checkers and debate-watchers, including students of the real host university (which was, as a reminder to Pence, Longwood University), did not go easy on the governor for making the glaring mistake five minutes into the debate.
Some people said the debate was immediately over after the mixup. Others suggested that Norwood was a rebranded version of Trump University. The mistake even inspired a new wave of students to âapplyâ to the imaginary college.
The best part of Penceâs flubbed show of thanks is that several Norwood Universities â more specifically, their Twitter accounts â were created during and after the debate.
There are at least four, if anyoneâs counting: @NorwoodUniv, home of the Norfolk Terriers; @NorwoodCollege, where âgood gradesâ are ânot a condition of acceptance;â @NorwoodUni, where you can âlearnâ about how GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump âkilled Osama Bin Laden in 1998â; and @Norwood_Edu, home of the Norwood Nancers, âwhere reality is subjective and the points donât matter.â
But as Trumpâs presidential running mate, Pence may have pulled off a much-needed win for the night, university mixup and âthat Mexican thingâ aside.
Initial polls show that the GOP veep nominee may have won the night by a small margin: 48 percent say Pence won and 42 percent say his rival, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), triumphed, according to a CNN poll with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5.
And while Penceâs mistake may have tarnished his debate track record, he isnât the only one in his party to mess things up.
The Republican National Committee declared Pence the debate night winner on its website one hour before the debate aired live.
Editorâs note: Donald Trump regularlyincitespolitical violence and is a