Florida Gov. Rick Scott stubbornly refused to make his way onto the stage to face off in a debate against democratic challenger Charlie Crist because of a fan.

#Fangate

Scott claimed, that per the rules, Crist was in violation of the no electronics policy. Since Crist refused to remove the fan that he had placed beneath his podium, Scott refused to participate in the debate, delaying the start for several minutes.

“Let me explain what this is all about,” said moderator Elliot Rodriguez. “Governor Crist has asked to have a fan, a small fan, placed underneath his podium. The rules of the debate that I was shown by the Scott campaign say that there should be no fan. Somehow there is a fan there, and for that reason ladies and gentlemen I am being told that Governor Scott will not join us for this debate.”

Addressing Crist, who took to the podium while waiting for Scott, moderator Rosemary Goudreau asked, “Do the rules of the debate say that there should be no fan?”

Crist replied, “Not that I’m aware of.” Goudreau went on to cite a part of the rules that states that all electronics were forbidden on stage. Without noting that his fan was electric, but not an electronic, Crist retorted, “Are we going to debate about a fan? Or are we going to talk about education, the environment, the future of our state?”

Likely realizing that by staying backstage he was giving Crist an easy opportunity to offer platitudes without the threat of a debate, Scott emerged. Scott attempted to recover from his embarrassing delay tactics by claiming the fan had nothing to do with his tardiness. After the opening moments of the debate went viral and #fangate started trending on Twitter, Scott and his team released a statement in an effort to save face.

“Charlie Crist can bring his fan, microwave, and toaster to debates – none of that will cover up how sad his record as governor was compared to the success of Rick Scott," Scott spokeswoman Melissa Sellers said in the statement. "Crist should buy a fan for the 832,000 Floridians who lost their jobs while he was governor.”

Crist, who places great importance on his appearance, is known to bring a fan with him to most political events. At debates and speeches, the former Florida governor typically has a fan placed under the podium to combat sweating under the spotlight.