--- title: Republican Debate: This is How the Debate Played Out Online description: Tracking the top moments and big winners using data from Twitter and Google. canonical: https://time.com/4255187/republican-debate-miami-twitter-google/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-11T05:45:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:26.309Z article:section: Politics og:title: This is How the Republican Debate Played Out Online og:description: Tracking the top moments and big winners using data from Twitter and Google. og:url: https://time.com/4255187/republican-debate-miami-twitter-google/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c58f9cdd1294e3/69888a9d2dce01c1bd9e8274/republican_debate_florida_a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4929 og:image:height: 2773 og:image:alt: Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This is How the Republican Debate Played Out Online twitter:description: Tracking the top moments and big winners using data from Twitter and Google. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c58f9cdd1294e3/69888a9d2dce01c1bd9e8274/republican_debate_florida_a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This is How Thursday's Republican Debate Played Out Online > 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=992ea130-80a4-4389-b15c-79e730ed32ab&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 11, 2016 5:45 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, speaks, as Republican presidential candidates, businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, listen, during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla. Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, speaks, as Republican presidential candidates, businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, listen, during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla. Wilfredo Lee—AP by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 11, 2016 5:45 AM UTC The Republican presidential debates have been insanely popular online—[Thursday’s contest in Miami was no exception](http://time.com/4254993/republican-debate-miami-florida-twelfth-donald-trump-ted-cruz/?3&xid=homepage), according to search and social media data. Viewers followed along on Twitter using the hashtag #GOPDebate, [making certain moments of the debate stand out](http://time.com/4091253/republican-debate-social-media/), while others took their queries to Google, [searching for more information about what the candidates were talking about](http://time.com/4229252/google-twitter-presidential-elections-predictions-analysis/). On Twitter, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s [answer on climate change](https://twitter.com/gov/status/708144040592584704) was the top tweeted moment of the night, as was [his comeback to front-runner Donald Trump on political correctness](https://twitter.com/gov/status/708143801018101760). Rubio’s popularity on Twitter may be sign that he had the breakout debate performance he so desperately needed before primary voting begins in Florida on Tuesday. **Read More:** [_What Google and Twitter Can Tell Us About 2016_](http://time.com/4229252/google-twitter-presidential-elections-predictions-analysis/) Trump took the lion share of the conversation on Twitter—[as he usually does](http://time.com/4150216/republican-debate-donald-trump-twitter/)—negative and positive. Search data from Google indicates that both Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich had good nights in their home states, as each of them came in second behind Trump, who hogged 56% of all searches during the debate. Searches for “delegate math” skyrocketed after [Trump brushed off talks of a contested Republican National Convention](http://time.com/4255169/gop-debate-contested-convention-trump/) come July. Google made a visualization of the top issues viewers searched about during the debate, with ISIS coming in first. > [](https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/708142088085487618) > [](https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/708136156198785024) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4255187/republican-debate-miami-twitter-google/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4255187/republican-debate-miami-twitter-google/"},"headline":"This is How Thursday's Republican Debate Played Out Online","datePublished":"2016-03-11T05:45:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:26.309Z","description":"Trump dominated the conversation, per usual","url":"https://time.com/4255187/republican-debate-miami-twitter-google/","keywords":["Debates","Tech","Social Media","2016 Election","Google","twitter","Sen. 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