- Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden faced off Sunday night in the cycle's first Democratic presidential debate to feature just the two candidates.
- During the debate, Sanders encouraged viewers to go to "the YouTube" to check out Biden's past remarks on Social Security.
- Social media users were quick to point out the phrasing quirk, and YouTube capitalized on it by quickly changing its Twitter name to "The YouTube."
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Bernie Sanders' phrasing choice for referring to YouTube during Sunday night's Democratic debate was quick to illicit reactions from internet users - and YouTube itself.
Sanders and Joe Biden faced off in the first one-on-one debate of the cycle on Sunday. During the debate, Sanders challenged Biden's record on Social Security, and encouraged viewers to "go to the YouTube" for video proof.
Viewers were quick to latch onto the odd phrasing: YouTube, as well as popular social networks like Facebook and TikTok, isn't frequently preceded by "the," although it's used ahead of online-related terms like "the internet." (Facebook famously dropped the "the.")
Sanders' comment at the debate was also immediately followed with a tweet from the Vermont senator's Twitter account using the same phrasing about "the YouTube."
The video that Sanders directed Twitter users to watch shows Biden during a 2007 interview in which he says that Social Security is "absolutely" something that could be sacrificed during budget cuts. The video goes against accusations Biden made Sunday night that Sanders aired inaccurate TV ads about the former vice president's Social Security record.
But it didn't long for jokes and memes about "the YouTube" to take over social media, and for users to get the phrase trending Sunday night on Twitter.
But regular users and debate viewers weren't the only ones to take notice of Sanders' quirky phrasing. YouTube changed its name on Twitter to "The YouTube," although the name had been changed back to just "YouTube" by Monday morning.
im at the youtube, now what
- Philip Bump (@pbump) March 16, 2020It was "The YouTube" until Justin Timberlake advised them to make it just "YouTube"
- Mark Mazzetti (@MarkMazzettiNYT) March 16, 2020Dear lord someone please make me a Bernie 2020 shirt that says "go to the youtube" pic.twitter.com/mbp2Jsn7gX
- cry every time puppy (@verysadfoodgirl) March 16, 2020Bernie is reaching out to seniors by calling it "the YouTube"
- Kate Willett (@katewillett) March 16, 2020To be fair, my mother for years has told friends that I report on "the YouTube."
- Julia Alexander (@loudmouthjulia) March 16, 2020