Biden's frequent smiles during debate ignite Twitter
Whether you'd call it a smirk, a smile, a gentle curve of the mouth, a chuckle or a full-blown laugh, Vice President Biden appeared to be doing a lot of it during Thursday night's campaign debate with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, and people noticed.
No matter whether the two contenders sparred over borrowing from China, Medicare, unemployment in Scranton, Pa., or the economy during Thursday night's campaign debate, Biden often appeared to grin.
The Twitterverse responded.
About 20 minutes into the debate, a Twitter account called @LaughinJoeBiden emerged, spotlighting a photo of the vice president showing his teeth, and the account occasionally sent out images of Biden in various stages of smiling during the verbal contest. Tweets took on a general theme: "heh," "looooooooool," "lolollllolll," and the succinct ":D." After the debate, the account had more than 7,500 followers.
Many Twitter followers seemed to laugh at or with the vice president. Some didn't think it was funny, while others did.
The Torg, @myguythetorg, host of a sports radio talk show in Columbus, Ohio, tweeted, "Biden is smiling and laughing when Ryan talks. This is going to be great! You go Biden!"
Addison Edwards, @EdwardsAddison, who offers no identifying details about himself on Twitter, tweeted: "Joe Biden is laughing right now at Paul Ryan? Real professional."
Roland Martin, @rolandsmartin, analyst for CNN, TV One and the Tom Joyner Morning Show, tweeted, "A bunch of pundits say Biden is wrong for smiling and laughing. I disagree." Using a word considered synonymous with "nonsense," Martin further tweeted that when one hears this, "sometimes all u can do is smile."
Bill Hardecker, @hardecker, an associate pastor based in Red Lion, Pa., tweeted: "Biden with his pseudo million dollar smile … he should get a job advertising for Colgate or something."
CNN host Piers Morgan, @piersmorgan, tweeted, "Joe,seriously, STOP SMIRKING. This is serious stuff. Be Vice-Presidential."