Bearded Guy Sitting Behind Debate Moderator Thanks 'Gay Twitter' For Making His Night After Being Dubbed 'Debate Daddy'

The last Democratic presidential debate had new insights into the roster of candidates.

And a new star emerged during the course of the night.

But it wasn't one of the Democratic hopefuls.

Instead it was the man dubbed "Debate Daddy" by the viewing audience.

And while people opined that perhaps he wasn't real...

...or was a Russian plot to distract viewers...

...the truth was less cloak and dagger.

Yes, he is a real person and it didn't take internet sleuths long to track him down.

In a post on his own Twitter account, Luke Collis posted:

"Went to the #DemDebates tonight. Couldn't see a thing because I was behind the moderators. But they showed me on tv and gay twitter made a thing of it!"

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you gay twitter. Absolutely made my night"

Collis' profile describes him as:

"Arena League Quarterback for the Philadelphia Soul, Political Enthusiast"

One thing he forgot in his description is "good sport." Collis appears to be taking the unexpected attention in stride.

Collis' girlfriend, Kasey Meehan, shared in his amusement at all the attention he received.

According to Collis, his most recent brush with fame came because of LA traffic making him late getting to the debate with his father.

Collis told The Huffington Post:

"By the time we got in everyone else had already taken their seats. The only seats left were the ones behind the moderators where we couldn't see a thing."

"We were getting made fun of for how unfortunate our seats were! Jokes on them I guess, because I've been feeling all this love from the internet."

"My confidence in my beard has never been higher. There are so many stories about online bullying and the internet being used as a negative space."

"I just think it's cool when we can use it to build each other up. Lucky to be on the positive side of things."

Collis also took the opportunity to promote Democratic candidate Sara Jacobs for California congressional district 53.

Thank you "Debate Daddy" for the kind words and understanding for all of your new fans and followers.

And if there's someone in your life who wants to get their beard game on point, the Naturenics Premium Beard Grooming Kit is available here.