Carly Fiorina's tweet prompted the creation of the "#CarlyCurse" hashtag. | Getty Carly Fiorina's Rose Bowl tweet draws Twitter scorn, hashtag

Harsh words seemed to follow two of the Republican presidential candidates during Friday's Rose Bowl college football game, and one of them may even be cursed.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina prompted a Twitter storm after she penned a controversial tweet in support of the Iowa Hawkeyes, instead of her alma mater Stanford's Cardinal.


"Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today," she tweeted.

Some Twitter users saw Fiorina's words as pandering to Iowan voters ahead of the Feb. 1 caucus in the state, and her tweet was met with widespread mockery.

In 11 words (and 1 hashtag), this Carly Fiorina tweet encapsulates everything people hate about politics. https://t.co/kOrCVWaXcf — Mo Elleithee (@MoElleithee) January 1, 2016

Seriously??? Who does this??? And on top of the insult to your school, you think Iowans are that shallow?? #iacaucus https://t.co/DIs44hI6Eg — Simon Conway (@SimonRadio1776) January 1, 2016

Steve Deace, a conservative Iowa radio host who recently endorsed Ted Cruz, took Fiorina to task, calling her words "phony."

Phony pandering that is not going to yield the desired result. https://t.co/JEAGX7KNwF — Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) January 1, 2016

The situation escalated as Stanford took the lead over Iowa, prompting the creation of a "#CarlyCurse" hashtag, and plenty of tongue-in-cheek scapegoating.

@BuzzFeedAndrew She's brought the same magic to Hawkeyes football that she brought to HP. #carlycurse — Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) January 1, 2016

Hey @CarlyFiorina, please stop cheering for us. It doesn't seem to be working #RoseBowl — Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) January 1, 2016

Earlier in the day her rival, and current Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump received an unpleasant surprise when the words "Trump is disgusting" appeared in mysterious skywriting above the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.