Trump dominates social media during debate

Donald Trump dominated the conversation on social media during Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas.

Trump was the most discussed candidate on Facebook during the debate, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) landed in third, followed by former neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

The top moment on Facebook was the interaction when Bush told Trump that he’d never win by “insulting [his] way to the presidency.”

{mosads}The No. 1 issue discussed on Facebook during the debate was Islam, according to data provided to The Hill by Facebook. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), terrorism, racial discrimination and immigration followed as the most discussed Facebook topics during the GOP debate.

Trump also dominated on Twitter, with 35 percent of debate mentions revolving around the real estate mogul.

Bush distantly follows in mentions at 13 percent, according to Twitter data. Cruz was responsible for 11 percent of the conversation, followed by Rubio and Carson tied at 9 percent.

The top tweeted moments all involved Trump – two of which were scuffles with Bush.

The top tweeted moment was Trump mockingly telling Bush, “You’re a tough guy, Jeb, I know.”

The seond was an exchange with Trump and Bush firing at each other on immigration.

The third top tweeted moment was when Trump took issue with booing from the debate crowd.

“I … can’t imagine somebody booing, these are people that want to kill us,” he said of terrorists.

The candidate who gained the most Twitter followers during the GOP debate, though, was not a Republican. It was Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Trump came in second for follower growth, followed by Carson, Rubio and Cruz. 

This story was updated on Dec. 16 at 12:03 a.m.