Alejandro Barahona, and Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

If there is just one catchphrase to come out of Tuesday's vice presidential debate, it's probably "that Mexican thing again."

It started when Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia, pressured Republican nominee Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, to talk about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's controversial statements on immigration.

"Senator, you whipped out that Mexican thing again," Pence replied.

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The phrase blew up on the internet immediately. The hashtag #ThatMexicanThing trended on Twitter, and someone claimed the domain ThatMexicanThing.com, which redirects to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's website.

By Wednesday afternoon, the statement was garnering comments from other politicians and many others.

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U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Linda Sanchez of California held a press call Wednesday to respond to Pence’s comment.

Gallego said he was present at Tuesday’s debate and that the phrase was offensive, outrageous and flat-out wrong. He also said the comment shows what the Trump-Pence campaign is about.

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Former Gallego staffer Pili Tobar's tweet about #ThatMexicanThing was among the most viral of the night, earning more than 5,000 likes.

Becerra said Pence's comment was offensive and it shows his record is just as extreme as Trump's.

"I would have never believed that I'd be witnessing a candidate for president and now, last night, the vice presidential candidate, mainstreaming the same hurtful rhetoric," Becerra said.

Sanchez said Pence not only defended Trump but used the same "venomous rhetoric."

"' 'That Mexican thing' — it's gonna come back to bite them in November," she said.

Top tweets from #ThatMexicanThing

Actress Kerry Washington was among the many whose tweets on the topic went viral. She quoted a tweet referencing ThatMexicanThing.org, which redirects to a voter-registration website.

Many people used the hashtag to honor Latinos' contributions to American society, and many of the most-liked tweets came from Latinos themselves.

Univision and Fusion TV anchor Jorge Ramos tweeted "First Trump calls Mexicans "rapists". Now Pence says #ThatMexicanThing Question: Is that a creative strategy to win the Latino vote?"

Gabe Ortiz, an online organizer for immigration-advocacy group America's Voice, tweeted "#ThatMexicanThing where my mom has worked as a housekeeper for 25 yrs because her dream is to see her family's dreams come true. #VPDebate."

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