Mike Pence to Tim Kaine: 'You Whipped Out That Mexican Thing Again,' Inspires ThatMexicanThing.com

Mike Pence drew a swift response from Latino groups Tuesday night during the vice presidential debate when he dismissed controversial statements made by Donald Trump, calling the comments "that Mexican thing."

During a particularly testy exchange during the debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, Kaine hit at Trump's record, saying, "When Donald Trump says women should be punished, that Mexicans are rapists and criminals, he is showing you who he is."

Pence shot back: "Senator, you whipped out that Mexican thing again."

"Look, there are criminal aliens in this country, Tim, who have come into this country illegally, who are perpetrating violence and taking American lives," Pence added.

Almost instantly, someone bought the domain, www.thatmexicanthing.org, and redirected it to the nonprofit Voto Latino Action Network, which promotes Latino voter participation.

Democrats also digitally seized on the controversial comment, redirecting thatmexicanthing.com to Hillary Clinton's campaign website. There, visitors are hit with an attack on Pence for denying Trump made particular comments throughout the debate.

Naturally, the Twitterverse had its way with Pence's comments, too, shooting the hashtag #ThatMexicanThing to the top of trending topics on Twitter.

Kaine was referring to remarks Trump made last July when he announced he was joining the 2016 race for the White House in which he referred to Mexicans as criminals and "rapists."

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you," Trump said last June. "They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons