Republicans declare Mike Pence ‘clear winner’ of vice-presidential debate before it started

The Republican Party today released a statement declaring Mike Pence “the clear winner” of the vice-presidential debate - 90 minutes before it even started.

The party published the statement, which has since been removed, on its website with the headline “Who Won the Vice Presidential Debate”, the Washington Post reports.

"Americans from all across the country tuned in to watch the one and only Vice Presidential debate,” the statement read.

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

The statement highlighted Mr Pence’s apparent “top moments” from the debate, including how he handled talking about issues including the economy and “highlighting Hillary’s scandals”.

The post was removed from the GOP website and replaced with an error page that included an awkward photo of Ms Clinton holding a copy of her book Hard Choices.

Once the debate finally did start, Mr Pence and Democrat counterpart Tim Kaine clashed in a surprisingly heated event.

Read more: Pence and Kaine talk over each other in heated debate