CNBC’s GOP Presidential Debate, Told in Tweets
CNBC’s GOP presidential debate was on tonight, and it was a hot mess with plenty of drama. Here’s how it went down on Twitter.
Things got started late:
And it's 8 p.m. and no debate. Last time, the first candidate didn't speak for an hour.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) October 28, 2015
CNBC was the focus of a lot of the tweets:
Plus diversity @exjon.. pic.twitter.com/s7gxjo0VWV
— Media Maters (@MediaMaters) October 29, 2015
Raise your hand if you're surprised to find out you get CNBC (and can find it on your cable system?) #gopdebate
— kherman (@kherman) October 29, 2015
The first question was “what is your greatest weakness.” Kasich said a lot, but didn’t answer the question.
Kasich's diving right in and going all crazy old coot
— Gary Eaton (@garysteveneaton) October 29, 2015
"My biggest weakness is my inability to answer a question directly."
— Jedediah Bila (@JedediahBila) October 29, 2015
Fiorina said that she heard after the last debate that she didn’t smile enough, then smiled into the camera.
Fiorina wins the exchange by smiling.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) October 29, 2015
Haha, an answer from Carly that every woman who's ever been on the stage, on TV, etc., can empathize with, strongly. #gopdebate
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) October 29, 2015
Right off the bat, the debate was off the rails:
This is a comic book version of a debate.
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) October 29, 2015
The moderators are debating the candidates.
— Dean Clancy (@DeanClancy) October 29, 2015
Can we give the moderators their own lecterns? #GOPDebate
— jon gabriel (@exjon) October 29, 2015
Jeb Bush went on the offensive against Marco Rubio, scolding him for missing Senate votes while running for president, and it didn’t end well for Jeb.
Farewell Jeb
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) October 29, 2015
That’s it. That’s it. That’s it. Marco. Freaking. Rubio.
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) October 29, 2015
Rubio 1, Jeb 0 on that round.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) October 29, 2015
No need to watch any more of this. Rubio won.
— RBe (@RBPundit) October 29, 2015
Jeb Bush just tried to score points on Marco Rubio on Rubio's missed Senate votes after Rubio had just hit the issue out of the park. Dumb.
— Brit Hume (@brithume) October 29, 2015
Ted Cruz went after the moderators for their ridiculous questions, and viewers ate it up:
HURRICANE CRUZ
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) October 29, 2015
I agree with @tedcruz rant right now, with all my heart.
— Kristen S Anderson (@KSoltisAnderson) October 29, 2015
Here’s how the candidates were being ranked at the first commercial break:
9pm rankings: Rubio Cruz Fiorina Christie Kasich Trump Bush Paul
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) October 29, 2015
About an hour into the debate, here’s how mentions were ranked on Twitter:
#CNBCGOPDebate 1st Hour — Most-Mentioned Candidates on Twitter: 1) Cruz, Trump (TIE) 3) Bush 4) Rubio 5) Carson 6) Kasich #GOPDebate
— Twitter Government (@gov) October 29, 2015
The moderators tried to get Ben Carson with a gotcha question, and the crowd loudly booed them.
These moderators are hot garbage. #CNBCGOPDebate
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) October 29, 2015
Garbage CNBC.
— Eric Bartoszak (@Eric_Bartoszak) October 29, 2015
Man, this crowd is INFURIATED by the moderators. And they probably don’t appreciate the moderators condescending them by laughing at them.
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) October 29, 2015
Not often that the crowd boos a moderator. Congratulations, #CNBCGOPDebate!
— Erik Telford (@BlameTelford) October 29, 2015
Good for the audience. That question deserved to be booed.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) October 29, 2015
Big vote in favor of the temperament of these candidates is that they're able to talk to these moderators as if they're intellectual equals.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) October 29, 2015
Seriously, readers, the moderators’ behavior was out of control:
The entire GOP debate so far: https://t.co/3dYVbtEENs
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 29, 2015
When asked a question about SuperPAC’s, Rubio nailed it, to huge applause:
"Democrats have the ultimate Super PAC: it's called the mainstream media." –Rubio, with what might be the line of the night.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 29, 2015
Oh man. @marcorubio is on fire tonight. #CNBCDebate
— sHallowqueen (@GayPatriot) October 29, 2015
With the debate nearly over, here are how the candidates are picking up steam:
New Twitter followers since debate started: Carson 5118 Rubio 2669 Cruz 2417 Trump 2083 Fiorina 990 Kasich 661 Jeb 513 Paul 512 Christie 92
— D. Hawkins (@HawkinsUSA) October 29, 2015
Rubio had another great answer when it came to entitlements:
Rubio swoops in and reminds the audience that entitlement reforms won't impact current and soon-to-be seniors. Crucial point. #GOPDebate
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 29, 2015
"I'm against anything that's bad for my mother." Are we sure Marco isn't Jewish?
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) October 29, 2015
Rubio stakes out a bold pro-mother position on entitlements.
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) October 29, 2015
Carly Fiorina had a great point in her closing statement. You know she’s right!
Fiorina – "In your heart of hearts you cannot wait to see a debate between Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton."
— Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) October 29, 2015
While people may disagree on the winner, there was unanimous agreement the CNBC lost:
Biggest winners tonight: Marco Rubio followed very closely by Ted Cruz. Biggest loser: CNBC.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) October 29, 2015
#CNBCGOPDebate #GOPDebate Winners: 1) Cruz 2) Christie 3) Trump Losers 1) CNBC 2) CNBC moderators 3) CNBC viewers
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) October 29, 2015
Winners: Marco, Cruz, Carson, Christie Was expecting more: Fiorina Loser: @CNBC Extra loser: @CNBC Super loser: @CNBC #GOPDebate
— Kelly Maher (@okmaher) October 29, 2015
We’ll be doing this again on November 10.
