The video of Mitt Romney’s speech at a fund-raiser in Boca Raton, Fla., released by Mother Jones magazine this week has been discussed broadly across the political spectrum. It has even apparently darkened the mood of Mr. Romney’s campaign team. There seemed to be little Mr. Romney could do but clarify that his remarks “were not elegantly stated” and fully embrace the ideas that drove them.

But not everyone agrees with the approach of the Romney campaign.

Late on Tuesday, some observers questioned why approximately two minutes were missing from the videos posted by Mother Jones. On The Blaze, Benny Johnson posted an edit of the video clips that highlighted a gap in the recordings, and argued that “the ‘uncut’ videos leave out a critical portion of the speech.” The editor-in-chief of Breitbart.com, Joel B. Pollak, took the point a step further and warned that “there is new reason to suspect manipulation” of Mother Jones’s video.

The response to this provocation gathered swiftly on Wednesday morning as users of Twitter created a viral hashtag, #Missing2Min, that speculated and cracked wise about what occurred during the moments missing from the recording posted by Mother Jones.

Some left-leaning observers shared their wit on the subject:

“Thank God none of you are recording this! I mean, you’re not, right? Ha. Ha. Ha.” #missing2min — Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) September 19, 2012

Reveals that he was once governor of Massachusetts #missing2min — Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) September 19, 2012

“And so opposite day starts…..NOW!” #missing2min — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 19, 2012

But they weren’t alone. Twitter users connected to some conservative causes and organizations also had their own satirical remarks about missing footage:

“Clint Eastwood has agreed to speak at the convention, so I think we’re home free.” #missing2min — Sean Geary Higgins (@SeanGHiggins) September 19, 2012





Reveals that he’ll actually have Paul Ryan run everything for 4 years while he goes waterskiing. #missing2min #iwish — Liz Mair (@LizMair) September 19, 2012

Some Twitter users embraced the hashtag to highlight controversies that have bedeviled President Obama over the years:

they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them #missing2min — Steven Walker (@SWalker_NC) September 19, 2012

Bows to the Emperor of Japan.#missing2min — DraneSpout (@DraneSpout) September 19, 2012

But turnabout was fair play when it came to lingering controversies for Mr. Romney:

Actually releases his tax returns. #missing2min — JonathanCohn (@JonathanCohn) September 19, 2012

“Between you and me, Seamus deserved it.” #missing2min — Alex Koppelman (@AlexKoppelman) September 19, 2012

A bevy of jokes that were not particularly political were also offered, and these were some of the highlights:

Staredown with Marina Abramovic #missing2min — Chris L (@brittonlowe) September 19, 2012

“You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!” #missing2min — Jesse Lansner (@Jesselansner) September 19, 2012

And comparisons of Mr. Romney with Springfield’s own Montgomery Burns were also common:

Tents his fingers and says “excellent.” #missing2min — Kris Kerzman (@kriskerzman) September 19, 2012

But of all the speculation about what happened in the missing two minutes, this Twitter user’s theory seemed the most reasonable: