--- title: Republican Debate: Ben Carson, Marco Rubio Add Twitter Followers description: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio added more Twitter followers during Thursday's primetime debate. canonical: https://time.com/3988422/republican-debate-twitter-followers/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-07T04:27:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:59:20.613Z article:section: Politics og:title: These Two Candidates Added the Most Twitter Followers During the Debate og:description: Everyone else did roughly the same. og:url: https://time.com/3988422/republican-debate-twitter-followers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55069ec87f3c0b06/69885e4d5f570fc939b1ccde/ben-carson-marco-rubio-twitter-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (L) and Ben Carson participate in the first prime-time presidential debate hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Two Candidates Added the Most Twitter Followers During the Debate twitter:description: Everyone else did roughly the same. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55069ec87f3c0b06/69885e4d5f570fc939b1ccde/ben-carson-marco-rubio-twitter-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Two Candidates Added the Most Twitter Followers During the Debate > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Aug 7, 2015 4:27 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (L) and Ben Carson participate in the first prime-time presidential debate hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (L) and Ben Carson participate in the first prime-time presidential debate hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Aug 7, 2015 4:27 AM UTC It’s a truism of social media: Being on TV helps you get more Twitter followers. So it’s not surprise that most of the 10 candidates in the primetime Republican debate on Fox News added 5,000 to 6,000 Twitter followers. But three candidates stood out on this decidedly informal metric. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson added 24,000 followers, nearly five times the typical amount, going from 397,000 Thursday morning to 423,000 around midnight. But as someone who’s never run for elected office and does not have as much name recognition, that’s perhaps not surprising. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also did well, adding 11,000 followers, or more than double the typical amount, going from 775,000 to 787,000. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, real estate mogul Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee all added between 4,000 and 6,000 followers. But New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie underperformed, adding only 2,000 followers, going from 543,000 to 545,000. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3988422/republican-debate-twitter-followers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3988422/republican-debate-twitter-followers/"},"headline":"These Two Candidates Added the Most Twitter Followers During the Debate","datePublished":"2015-08-07T04:27:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:59:20.613Z","description":"Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Florida Sen. 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