Who won the debate in South Carolina? Not the moderators, if you ask Twitter
Presidential hopefuls touched on a number of talking points Tuesday during the Democratic debate in Charleston. But according to Twitter, the candidates had a little too much freedom to respond to questions and moderators from CBS had little control over the debate.
The South Carolina debate was the first debate since Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders established himself as the clear frontrunner after the Nevada caucuses.
And he was given the frontrunner treatment Tuesday, putting on the defense against remarks from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
►Comprehensive election coverage of SC's primary can be found here
"I'm hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight," Sanders said at one point.
Talking points ranged from healthcare, coronavirus, gun control and claims of sexism in the Bloomberg campaign.
But for some, the CBS moderators' performances weren't up to snuff. Throughout the evening, viewers took to Twitter to air their grievances about how CBS was handling the debate.
Here's a look at what some people tweeted about CBS:
My motto: CBS needs new moderators.
— John Hausman (@JohnSHausman) February 26, 2020
visual representation of how cbs news managed #demdebate pic.twitter.com/GkdefyUX1m
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 26, 2020
CBS was pretty bad.
I'd like to see Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert moderate a debate. Seriously.— scoutprime (@scoutprime) February 26, 2020
The CBS moderators during this debate #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/Mac9PGu1jj
— Lucas Macce (@MidCityFiesta94) February 26, 2020
I took a picture of CBS’s game plan on moderating this #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/hHVx1Q7i8b
— Wayne Perala (@smartplay31) February 26, 2020
We don’t know who did well in tonight’s #DemDebate, but we do know who lost the debate. It was @CBS
— Mike (@mikbre) February 26, 2020
CBS did the impossible. They ran a worse debate than CNN.#DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/43ULIzUSe9
— Chris Bernardo (@HisAirnessFan45) February 26, 2020
Moderators ask about a ban on sugary drinks but not about the environment or climate change when we are sitting at sea level. Come on.
— Joe Cunningham (@JoeCunninghamSC) February 26, 2020
The Democrat debate was dreadful. CBS News is to blame. Inane questions by inept moderators who allowed chaos to reign for 2 agonizing hours. Sadly, viewers were the losers in this wreckage. And can someone tell the candidates to stop waving their hands like first-graders?
— Gregg Jarrett (@GreggJarrett) February 26, 2020
Nick Siano is a digital producer with the USA TODAY NETWORK. Follow him on Twitter: @NickSiano_.
This article originally appeared on The Greenville News: Democratic debate in South Carolina: moderators get backlash
