--- title: Republican Debate: Here's Who Won Twitter Followers description: Non-establishment candidates made the biggest gains on Twitter on Wednesday. canonical: https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-17T04:49:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:32:01.398Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Who Gained Twitter Followers During the Debate og:description: Two outsider candidates picked up the most followers. og:url: https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6313bc83c9893fc/698863f82dce0196ab9e58c1/rts1huv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2495 og:image:height: 1403 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina speaks during the second official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Who Gained Twitter Followers During the Debate twitter:description: Two outsider candidates picked up the most followers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6313bc83c9893fc/698863f82dce0196ab9e58c1/rts1huv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Who Gained Twitter Followers During the Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=de2e2710-46cd-4388-8f5c-13027a12cf1c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2015-09-17. Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate._ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) and [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/) Sep 17, 2015 4:49 AM UTC by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) and [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/) Sep 17, 2015 4:49 AM UTC When it came to Twitter followers, there were two clear-cut winners of Wednesday’s debate: Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson. The two outsider candidates shot past the rest of the field, gaining 22,000 followers each. Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, was [enjoying a move up to the big leagues](http://time.com/4037858/republican-debate-carly-fiorina/), having been promoted from the undercard debate to the main event. She jumped from 493,000 to 515,000 by the end of the debate. [After surging in the polls in recent weeks](http://time.com/4033330/ben-carson-campaign-style/), Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, went from 602,000 to 624,000 followers. Directly behind those two was [frontrunner Donald Trump](http://time.com/4037224/tom-brady-donald-trump/), whose added 10,000 followers to his already massive total of 4.16 million. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush each gained 7,000. At the back of the pack were Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who added 3,000 followers a piece. The rest of the 16 GOP presidential candidates made only marginal gains, except former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, whose follower count remained flat at 242,ooo. ### See the 2016 Candidates Looking Very Presidential  Sen. Ted Cruz is surrounded by stars and stripes at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2014. Mark Peterson—Redux  Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton gazes pensively into the distance at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis for TIME  Jeb Bush Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flashes a power watch before giving his keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington on Nov. 20, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Bernie Sanders waves to supporters after officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, on May 26, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Chris Christie New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strikes a presidential power stance at the ceremony for the opening of the 206 bypass in Hillsborough, New Jersey on October 28, 2013. Mark Peterson—Redux  Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015. Jim Young—Reuters  Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul works a crowd during a campaign stop on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images  Rick Perry Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks powerfully patriotic during the National Anthem before an NCAA college football game on Nov. 27, 2014, in College Station, Texas. David J. Phillip—AP  Bobby Jindal Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal looks to the future during The Family Leadership Summit on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP  Martin O'Malley Maryland Governor Martin OíMalley ponders decorating ideas in front of his possible future home on CBS's Face the Nation on Feb. 23, 2014. Chris Usher—AP  Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio looks determined the morning after the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2014. Melissa Golden—Redux  Ben CarsonBen Carson at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference on March 8, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Jim Webb Retiring Sen. Jim Webb imitates the presidential wave during a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. on Sept. 27, 2012. Steve Helber—AP  John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich practices his presidential victory pose at the Ohio Republican Party celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio. Tony Dejak—AP  Rick Santorum Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks resolute at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 7, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Scott Walker Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker practices the presidential point on March 3, 2014 in Milwaukee. Jeffrey Phelps—AP  Mike Huckabee Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee fine-tunes his presidential oratory at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md. on March 7, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Lincoln Chafee, Former Rhode Island Governor, poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham announced his plans to join the 2016 presidential race. Alex Wong—Getty Images  George Pataki Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo. Brian Snyder—Reuters ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] I never attacked him on his look. And believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. [ LAUGH ] We don't need an apprentice in the White House. We have one right now. So 40 years ago, I smoked marijuana. But when you challenge the status quo, you make enemies. I made a few. Steve Jobs told me that when he called me the day I was fired. More energy tonight. I like that. Just because he says it doesn't make it true. I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said. [ MUSIC ] We're fighting ISIS. ISIS wants to fight Syria. Why are we fighting ISIS in Syria? Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants . >> Yes. Having met Vladimir Putin, I wouldn't talk to him at all. We've talked way too much to him. The single biggest National security threat facing America right now, is the threat of a nuclear Iran. We are stronger when we work with the western civilization, our friends in Europe, and just doing it on our own, I don't think is the right policy. I don't think we need to be rash. I don't think we need to be reckless. And I think we need to leave a lines of communication open. We need to be strong against China. How do we confront Iran? And the first thing that we need to do is to reestablish our commitment to Israel, which has been tattered by this administration. [ MUSIC ] I defunded Planned Parenthood. And I vetoed Planned Parenthood funding, now, 8 times in New Jersey. We don't want this organization to get funding, and the money oughta be reprogrammed. And for family planning in other organizations that don't support this tactic. Let's ask Hillary Clinton. She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb, to preserve their body parts [ UNKNOWN ] in a way that maximizes their value for sale for profit. Well he's wrong on a lot of things, but on this he's wrong because I'm the most pro- life governor on this stage. I'd like to link these two issues, both of which are incredibly important. Iran and Planned Parenthood. One has something to do with the defense of the security of this nation. The other has something to do with the defense of the character of this nation. We need to take the fingerprint of every person. Who comes to this country on a visa, and when they over stay their visa we need to tap them on the shoulder and say, you have over stayed your welcome, you're taking advantage of the American people, it's time for you to go. If we don't seal the border the rest of the stuff really doesn't matter. You're proud of your family just as I am. Correct. To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous. Political conversation was completely inappropriate. And I hope you apologize for that, Donald. But to build a wall and to deport people, half a million a month, would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, Donald. This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish. [ APPLAUSE ] And the next president of the United States better be someone who understands these issues, and has good judgment about them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/"},"headline":"Here's Who Gained Twitter Followers During the Debate","datePublished":"2015-09-17T04:49:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:32:01.398Z","description":"Non-establishment candidates made the most gains on Twitter on Wednesday","url":"https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/","keywords":["Debates","Social Media","2016 Election","twitter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6313bc83c9893fc/698863f82dce0196ab9e58c1/rts1huv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6313bc83c9893fc/698863f82dce0196ab9e58c1/rts1huv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina speaks during the second official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley","caption":"Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina speaks during the second official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley","creditText":"Lucy Nicholson—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/","name":"Here's Who Gained Twitter Followers During the Debate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes","description":"Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZG84mwx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-17T04:16:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/","duration":"PT2M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4037856/republican-debate-cnn-twitter-followers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```