Mike Pence’s #ThatMexicanThing Comment Turns Into a Pro-Immigrant Party on Twitter

On Tuesday, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence sat down with Elaine Quijano – the first Asian-American to ever moderate a national debate – to discuss the economy, women’s reproductive rights, immigration, and issues that have rocked both campaigns. While there were some topics that went glaringly overlooked – ahem, gay rights – how much the two vice presidential nominees clashed has dominated headlines. “What was supposed to be the nice-guy tête-á-tête was instead a snippy, tit-for-tat exchange in the key of conventional politics,” the New York Times wrote.

Despite their best attempts to drown each other out, there’s one message that came in loud and clear to Latinos, especially Mexicans. As Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Kaine, tried to call out Donald Trump for his inhumane immigration platform and insipid comments about women and war heroes, Pence interrupted him and said, “Senator, you’ve whipped out that Mexican thing again.”

His dismissive phrasing implies that Kaine is fixating on something insignificant when in reality Trump has made building a wall between the US and Mexico the cornerstone of his campaign. Trump has relentlessly targeted Mexican and other Latino immigrants for more than a year. So when Pence wanted to drop the subject, Latino Twitter didn’t let it become a soundbite that went forgotten.

Clever minds created ThatMexicanThing.Org as a way to push people to register to vote, as BuzzFeed’s Adrian Carrasquillo points out. But on Twitter, the #ThatMexicanThing conversation largely centered around the struggles immigrants faced and continue to face in the United States, as well as their contributions to the United States. Instead of letting it be another hateful thing uttered by Trump’s campaign, it’s become a celebration of the Mexican community. Check out a few of the best #ThatMexicanThing tweets below: