A campaign filing sent the internet into a tizzy on Monday evening after someone named "Mike Pance" appeared to file for a presidential campaign.
What followed, however, made the whole situation even weirder. Reuters reported that a spokesperson for Pence refuted the filing. That sent political analysts to fact-check that Pence wasn't running. Not long after, however, Reuters retracted its story. Leading to more confusion.
Less than an hour later, however, Reuters reposted the story, confirming that Mike Pence hasn't filed for a presidential campaign.
Devin "O'Malley, who was press secretary for Pence when he was vice president, tweeted 'Former Vice President Mike Pence did not file to run for President today' and later confirmed to Reuters that he is an adviser to Pence."
Regardless of whether or not Pence is running, the whole ordeal ended in ridicule.
"Mike Pence has filed to run for president," novelist Paul Rudnick tweeted. "His slogan is: 'Stop Laughing' 'Straight, White and - Wait, Isn't That Enough?' 'It's Time For A Christian Douchebag' 'I'm God's Game Show Host' 'The Sad Dad' 'I Sold You Your Oldsmobile' 'This Is What Losing Looks Like.'"
Even one conservative who was previously banned on Twitter said that " no one cares" whether or not Pence is running. Roger Stone called it "fake" saying that Mike Pence is a fraud.
"Even if Mike Pence ran for president, it would be a joke of a campaign," said Democratic delegate Victor Shi. "Pence did one right thing as Vice President on January 6th — everything else was enabling the worst of Trump. None of us are forgetting. Best to sit this one out, Mike."
Writer Charlotte Clymer explained, "I don’t know whether Mike Pence is running for president, but I do know we’ve already had six years with Pence as a national figure and at best, they were underwhelming. We are literally at six Pence, none the richer."
The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson called on his political experience to predict: "If Mike Pence runs, he’ll place 15th out of 7 candidates."
