Tulsi Gabbard: Post Debate Narrative Analysis
Pre/Post Debate Social Media
Tulsi Gabbard was not getting much social media attention prior to the debate, averaging ~1000 mentions/day. This jumped to ~48K on the day after the debate. The day after, it was still around 10x the pre-debate levels.
Top Headlines
- Hill.com: “Drudge instant poll shows Gabbard winning first Democratic debate in landslide.”
- Washington Examiner: “Drudge poll shock: Tulsi Gabbard runaway winner of first Democratic debate.”
Top Twitter Narratives
“Tulsi Gabbard is surprisingly presidential.”
On the heels of the Drudge straw poll results, Twitter was abuzz with Tulsi’s surprisingly good performance.
“Tulsi Gabbard is supported (and compromised) by Russia”
Misinformation specialists have been skeptical of Gabbard’s organic support, and pointed out how friendly she is with right-wing outlets like Breitbart.
Later in the day it emerged that the Drudge poll was heavily trolled by users from 4chan. However, this didn’t get nearly as much traction.
Who’s talking about Tulsi?
The most popular tweet was from a former Trump campaign staffer.
The day following the debate Twitter erupted into a fight between the pro-Gabbard right-wing crowd, and the researchers and journalists focused on Russian misinformation.
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