Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is again the most-searched candidate on Google during Democratic debate
WASHINGTON – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was the most searched candidate on Google after her night on the Democratic debate stage in Miami last month, and she took that honor again after the primary debate in Detroit on Wednesday.
Before Wednesday night's showdown between 10 of the 25 Democrats running for president, former Vice President Joe Biden was the most searched candidate in all but seven states. Gabbard was next, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
But during the debate, the congresswoman from Hawaii stood alone as the most Googled candidate in all 50 states.
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Before and after: the #DemDebate candidates in search.https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt#CNNDebate pic.twitter.com/5wTwPbebDo
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) August 1, 2019
Gabbard's campaign took note of the interest shown in her on Google.
"Following the last two debates, Tulsi has spiked to #1 in Google Trends, showing America is hungry for her message of ending wasteful wars and the nuclear arms race," read a tweet from her Twitter account.
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Following the last two debates, Tulsi has spiked to #1 in Google Trends, showing America is hungry for her message of ending wasteful wars and the nuclear arms race. Join us to ensure she makes the donation requirement for the September debate #DemDebate https://t.co/pcTHp1M8ei pic.twitter.com/x4FS7oVK5P
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) August 1, 2019
Being the most searched candidate during the first round of the debate in Miami didn't translate into a boost in the polls for Gabbard. Most polls had her hovering around 1% heading into that debate and her current polling average, according to RealClearPolitics, stands at an even 1%.
On July 25, Gabbard's campaign announced it was suing Google, claiming "serious and continuing violations of Tulsi’s right to free speech" because of Google's suspension of the Gabbard campaign's advertising account during that first debate.
Gabbard's campaign also expressed frustration with CNN prior to Wednesday's debate in Detroit, calling the network "very biased." Gabbard's sister, Vrindavan Gabbard, said the questions asked by CNN's moderators were "lopsided in favor of certain candidates."
Last month, Vrindavan Gabbard leveled a similar charge against MSNBC, which hosted the debate in Miami, and accused that network of favoring Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
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Overall, Google said the candidates getting the most queries during the debate were ranked as follows:
Gabbard
Harris
Booker
Biden
Businessman Andrew Yang
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado
Healthcare remained the most searched issue throughout the debate, while the other top searches alternated between immigration, wages, unemployment, racism, climate change, abortion and the economy.
Replay the issues during tonight's #DemDebate in search with our #DataViz https://t.co/U5thD0ztjF pic.twitter.com/xg63KuLJhk
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) August 1, 2019
Booker saw the biggest surge in searches from the time the debate started, followed by Bennet, Gillibrand and Inslee.
How have #DemDebate candidate changed in search since it started?
Cory Booker +2,950%
Michael Bennet +2,800%
Kirsten Gillibrand +2,350%
Jay Inslee +1,950%
Bill de Blasio +1,950%
Julian Castro +1,700%
Tulsi Gabbard +1,400%
Andrew Yang +900%
Kamala Harris +500%
Joe Biden +350%— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) August 1, 2019
Google also shared the most searched topics for each candidate:
Here are the top issues searched with @MichaelBennet
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/6SFnOW3G6u— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @JulianCastro
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/ysgHHk0AKZ— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @JayInslee
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/FrK29gUVXd— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @TulsiGabbard
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/8sVjh1ELRE— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @SenGillibrand
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/mQWQRJh5a1— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @CoryBooker
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/bWGzQPJCrU— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @BilldeBlasio
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt
#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/ca7cgH4yRt— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @AndrewYang
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/sBjM3ARKQL— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Here are the top issues searched with @SenKamalaHarris
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt#CNNDebate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/lz0Pv54UmC— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
THHREAD: We are live-tweeting tonight's #DemDebate.
Here are the top issues searched with @JoeBiden
More data here: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt#CNNDebate pic.twitter.com/o7rFT4vhrN— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 31, 2019
Contributing: Nicholas Wu and Rebecca Morin
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democratic Debate: Tulsi Gabbard is once again most searched candidate