RNC declares Pence winner of VP debate — hours before start

by Rebecca Savransky - 10/04/16 7:29 PM ET

The Republican National Committee appears to have accidentally hit publish on a post declaring Indiana Gov. Mike Pence the winner of Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate before it even began.

{mosads}The post, which was taken down soon after Twitter noticed the error, was titled “Who won the presidential debate” and featured a picture of Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate.

“Americans from all across the country tuned in to watch the one and only Vice Presidential debate,” the post said.

“During the debate we helped fact check and monitor the conversation in real time @GOP. The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate.”

The RNC claims Pence’s top moments in the debate were when he spoke about the economy and highlighted Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s scandals.

It said the Indiana governor “made the most of his opportunity” to debate Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

The post also offered praise for Trump.

“The other clear winner from tonight’s debate was Donald Trump.”

“His running mate perfectly shared Trump’s vision to make America great again and that message is resonating with Americans all across the country.”

Social media seized on the mistake Tuesday evening.

The debate hasn’t begun, but the @GOP says @HillaryClinton lost. Time for bed! pic.twitter.com/qcS19oevc9

— Emily Cahn (@CahnEmily) October 4, 2016

Wow, if true: https://t.co/OEgRsntNzv pic.twitter.com/nK62U9m8Vr

— DJ Judd (@juddzeez) October 4, 2016

“10 Things Voters are Saying About the Debate”…which doesn’t start for more than an hour pic.twitter.com/kbyj5n4ONu

— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) October 4, 2016

Another post published said Clinton was the loser of the vice presidential debate and slammed her running mate.

“Tim Kaine was unable to answer for his running-mate’s record of failure, corruption and secrecy at tonight’s debate,” the post said.

“The American people have spoken and it’s clear who tonight’s biggest loser is, Hillary Clinton.”

Pence and Kaine are scheduled to face off at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday night.

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Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Mike Pence Tim Kaine