The Democratic debate took place Tuesday night, but the real action wasn't in the debate itself, but instead on social media thanks to Donald Trump. The business mogul's tweets dominated social media traffic during the debate, overshadowing traffic about the actual event itself.
Trump announced Tuesday morning over Twitter prior to the debate that he would be live-tweeting his thoughts about the debate.
At the request of many, and even though I expect it to be a very boring two hours, I will be covering the Democrat Debate live on twitter!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2015
As time began to wind down towards the beginning of the debate, it became clear that Trump could no longer hold his excitement and just wanted the debate to begin.
Get rid of all of these commercials. #DemDebate — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
Trump was already calling out various candidates even before the debate began, AFP reported. He mentioned former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, ex-senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, saying that he felt bad for them since all three were polling at less than one percent.
Should be interesting but too bad the three guys at《1% will be taking up so much time - but who knows, maybe a star will be born (unlikely) — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
The gloves really came off once the debate began.
Can anyone imagine Chafee as president? No way. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
O'Malley, as former Mayor of Baltimore, has very little chance. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
Not even Hillary Clinton was safe from Trump's assault, as he called out the former Secretary of State for supporting a trans-Pacific trade deal that she now opposes, according to CNN.
The trade deal is a disaster, she was always for it! #DemDebate — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
Trump became outright bored as the debate progressed, stating that commercials and Twitter were the debate's only saving graces.
"@maxxgadog: @LindaSuhler @realDonaldTrump if you got rid of commercials you would have nothing worth watching" — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
"@prissyalways: @realDonaldTrump I cannot stop yawning...Twitter is more interesting. #DemDebate"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
As the debate came to an end, Trump was left unimpressed and returned to his common refrain that only he could make America great again.
"@PauperInAPinch: @realDonaldTrump Thank goodness #DemDebate is over. Not impressed... TRUMP2016!!! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain" — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015
After all was said and done, not only did Trump's live tweets dominate social media traffic, but he gained more followers to boot. Data compiled by Voactiv indicates that the GOP front-runner gained about 60,000 followers halfway through last night's debate. By comparison, Clinton gained about 15,000 followers, while Bernie Sanders gained 50,000 between his two accounts. Meanwhile, O' Malley, Chafee and Webb all fared much worse, gaining 6,600, 1,600 and 3,300 followers, respectively.
