'It's clear who tonight's biggest loser is': Official GOP website accidentally declares Mike Pence as winner of vice presidential debate... hours before it begins

  • Official GOP website declared Mike Pence as winner of debate before event started on Tuesday
  • More than an hour ahead of the start time, the GOP announced that Pence was the 'clear winner' of the debate on their website 
  • The GOP wrote on the site: 'Mike Pence made the most of his opportunity to debate Hillary's VP pick Tim Kaine' 
  • The page has since been taken down, but not before image grabs of the mistake were taken and shared around social media 

By Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:32 EST, 4 October 2016 | Updated: 03:21 EST, 5 October 2016

The official GOP website made a huge gaffe ahead of the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night by declaring Republican candidate Mike Pence as the winner before the event even started. 

More than an hour ahead of the start time, a blog post on the official website for the Republican National Committee announced that Pence was the 'clear winner' of the debate against Democrat Tim Kaine.

The post, titled 'Who Won the Vice Presidential Debate', appeared on the website early Tuesday evening and included Pence's top moments from the debate - how the Indiana governor discussed the economy and highlighted Hillary Clinton's scandals.

Whoops: The official GOP website (above) made a huge gaffe ahead of the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night by declaring Republican candidate Mike Pence as the winner before the event even started

Whoops: The official GOP website (above) made a huge gaffe ahead of the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night by declaring Republican candidate Mike Pence as the winner before the event even started

More than an hour ahead of the start time, a blog post (above) on the official website for the Republican National Committee announced that Pence was the 'clear winner' of the debate against Democrat Tim Kaine

More than an hour ahead of the start time, a blog post (above) on the official website for the Republican National Committee announced that Pence was the 'clear winner' of the debate against Democrat Tim Kaine

'Americans from all across the country tuned in to watch the one and only Vice Presidential debate,' the post said. 

'During the debate we helped fact check and monitor the conversation in real time @GOP. 

'The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate.' 

In addition, the site said Pence 'perfectly shared Trump's vision to make America great again' during the debate, according to the GOP. 

GOP.com (above) also listed links to other debate posts that were live on their site under the two sections 'More Election 2016' and 'Recommended for you' 

GOP.com (above) also listed links to other debate posts that were live on their site under the two sections 'More Election 2016' and 'Recommended for you' 

The page has since been taken down, but not before image grabs of the huge mistake were taken and shared around social media. The '404 Error' message (above) appears on the site now where the story was

The page has since been taken down, but not before image grabs of the huge mistake were taken and shared around social media. The '404 Error' message (above) appears on the site now where the story was

'Mike Pence made the most of his opportunity to debate Hillary's VP pick Tim Kaine,' the GOP wrote in the post.

'The other clear winner from tonight's debate was Donald Trump. 

'His running mate perfectly shared Trump's vision to make America great again and that message is resonating with Americans all across the country.'

The page has since been taken down, but not before image grabs of the huge mistake were taken and shared around social media. 

Also, a separate post, titled 'It's clear Who Lost the VP Debate, Hillary Clinton' on their site made it clear that Kaine lost, even though the debate hadn't even happened yet. 

The GOP wrote in the post: 'Mike Pence (above) made the most of his opportunity to debate Hillary's VP pick Tim Kaine'

The GOP wrote in the post: 'Mike Pence (above) made the most of his opportunity to debate Hillary's VP pick Tim Kaine'

The GOP declared that Kaine (above) lost to Pence and wrote: 'The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate'

The GOP declared that Kaine (above) lost to Pence and wrote: 'The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate'

'Tim Kaine was unable to answer for his running-mate's record of failure, corruption and secrecy at tonight's debate,' the second post stated. 

'The American people have spoken and it's clear who tonight's biggest loser is, Hillary Clinton.'

GOP.com also listed links to other debate posts that were live on their site under the two sections 'More Election 2016' and 'Recommended for you'. 

Pence and Kaine are set to face-off at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia at 9pm for their only debate before the election next month.  

Pence and Kaine are set to face-off at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia at 9pm for their only debate before the election next month. The stage for the debate is pictured above

Pence and Kaine are set to face-off at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia at 9pm for their only debate before the election next month. The stage for the debate is pictured above

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