Last night saw the first presidential debate of the 2016 election. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and GOP opponent Donald Trump laid out their competing ideas for the U.S.A.—what's going wrong and who can do more about it.
All eyes were on the debate, if trends on social media are any indication. #DebateNight was the top Twitter trend in the United States for hours leading up to and then following the show. A look at GoogleTrends shows a spike in search interest for both candidates, though more so for Clinton. And what issues did viewers Google during the debate?
A look at the transcript of last night's debate shows no mention of abortion by either candidate. "Immigration" was uttered once, when Trump said wrongly that he had been endorsed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency, which did not do that.
Policing was a top issue for search. Both candidates acknowledged the need for restoring trust between police and communities, but neither presented specific means as to how, as a president, they would facilitate such restoration. The two also disagreed on stop-and-frisk policies, which Clinton denounced but Trump praised.
Reactions to his comments were swift:
#StopAndFrisk is working out well for NYC. -#Trump
Stop & Frisk was declared unconstitutional. -Lester Holt#debatenight
— The Establishment (@ESTBLSHMNT) September 27, 2016
Odd how wrong Trump is about crime in the city he lives in. #stopandfrisk declined, so did murders. cc @JPeterDonald #Debates2016 pic.twitter.com/W2oACPZLSy
— Azi (@Azi) September 27, 2016
Even Gary Johnson, who Dan Savage called a "moron", joined to criticize Trump's comments:
.@realDonaldTrump, #stopandfrisk adversely affects the black community #debates
— Gov. Gary Johnson (@GovGaryJohnson) September 27, 2016
As the debate segued into the topic of race, Trump insisted that he had developed "very, very good relationships over the last little while with the African-American community" and defended racist rental policies at his properties.
Donald.... you haven't developed shit with the black community.
— roxane gay (@rgay) September 27, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump race relations plan - "I built something & hired lots of different people." U can't wet ur ankles in his deepest thought.
— Luis A. Miranda, Jr. (@Vegalteno) September 27, 2016
Saying that you were one of "many" people being sued for being racist does not mean you weren't racist.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) September 27, 2016
Women's issues weren't brought up during the debate, but Clinton did find a way to provide some neat excerpts of past Trump comments about women and women in the workplace—including a particularly damning reference to a former Miss Universe winner, who Trump has called "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Houskeeping":
Donald Trump called her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping."
Her name is Alicia Machado. #DebateNight pic.twitter.com/0wrISjJe6z
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 27, 2016
Trump's response later (for real):
Trump digs in on former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado:
"She gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem."
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) September 27, 2016
Trump/Pence 2016; No Fat Chicks. https://t.co/0l2TJnBH36
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) September 27, 2016
Who "won"? There's little consensus among people with Opinions. #TrumpWon is a top trend on Twitter right now, but its associated tweets are actually critical of his performance:
#TrumpWon. Also, the sun is made of cheese and dogs meow, since we're just throwing out things that make no sense
— Brandon Calvillo (@BJCalvillo) September 27, 2016
The #TrumpWon hashtag is a joke, a parody—satire—just like you are. I guess you didn't get that, @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/q1fIxpftMO
— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) September 27, 2016
Even Trump himself says:
"Yeah, she did a good job." pic.twitter.com/XZHN25I6Xo
— Jory Rand (@ABC7Jory) September 27, 2016
Where to go from here:
Well, that was our live theater this evening.
Vote. pic.twitter.com/FzfTG4eEY0
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) September 27, 2016
Two debates remain between the two candidates. Stranger staffers will live-blog both. Until then, read a recap of our thoughts and analyses of last night here.