Elections

Clinton beats Trump in South Carolina Google searches

By Vera Bergengruen

vbergengruen@mcclatchydc.com

September 27, 2016 03:20 PM

Trump, Clinton clash in first presidential debate

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton went to head-to-head in the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York on Monday. They discussed jobs, racial divisions and national security with many personal jabs thrown in between. The debate,
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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton went to head-to-head in the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York on Monday. They discussed jobs, racial divisions and national security with many personal jabs thrown in between. The debate,
By
WASHINGTON

Hillary Clinton dominated Google searches in South Carolina during Monday night’s first presidential debate, surpassing Donald Trump as the top-searched candidate in the state. The only exception was the Augusta metro area, which includes Aiken and Edgefield counties, according to Google Trends.

Hillary Clinton was the top-searched candidate in all 50 states after the debate.

Besides her name, the top trending search for Clinton in South Carolina was “Hillary Clinton dot com,” after she asked viewers to follow along in real time on her website to fact-check Trump’s statements. Another top search was “Hillary Clinton fact checker.”

The top trending search for the Republican nominee in South Carolina was “Did Donald Trump support the Iraq War.”

When Clinton said that Trump supported the war in Iraq, he called her statement “mainstream media nonsense,” likely triggering the spike in searches for his record on the conflict. There is no evidence that Trump ever expressed public opposition for the war, but he did express lukewarm support.

In the last year, South Carolinians’ most frequent searches have included “Hillary Clinton seizures,” “Hillary Clinton indictment” and “Hillary Clinton dead,” according to Google Trends. Among the most frequent Trump queries over the last 12 months were “Donald Trump SNL” and “Donald Trump family.”

Google also said that interest in volunteering for Clinton was 120 percent higher than search interest in volunteering for Trump as the debate was broadcast. Searches for “registrarse para votar” – Spanish for “register to vote” – spiked nationwide during Monday’s debate, hitting an all-time high of more than 100,000.

Clinton may have topped the Google searches, but Trump won a larger share of social media. According to Twitter, 62 percent of the conversation on the platform focused on Trump and 38 percent on Clinton.

Vera Bergengruen: 202-383-6036, @verambergen

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