The hashtag "#DEFCON1" trended today on Twitter, but not because of imminent nuclear war or WW3. Instead, the phrase was in reference to a remark made by Fernand Armandi, a Democratic Party pollster in Miami, in response to the creation of a new Spanish-language conservative talk radio station called Americano.

In the original story, Armandi told NBC News that the creation of Americano was “a Defcon 1 moment. We should be worried.” Democrats in Florida (and nationally) have traditionally relied on Latino voters to win elections and Armandi’s fear is that the new radio station will increase the Republican Party’s sway in that key demographic … hence the "DEFCON 1."

DEFCON 1, the term used to describe an imminent nuclear attack, worked its way into the headline of an NBC News article that shocked many users who believed, for a split second, that a nuclear war had started.

Critics of NBC’s editorial decision to put “DEFCON 1” in a headline during the middle of a war in which the use of nuclear weapons had been threatened ended up producing more tweets than people discussing the article itself — and many people weren't pleased.

Conservative commentators argued that NBC was biased in publishing the headline, and celebrated the new radio station. Others theorized about what the trending hashtag represented for the culture and for political media, describing it as an example of sensationalism and tone-deafness. Discourse about the way the media is conducting political discourse ended up being as loud (if not louder) than the political discourse itself.