Online interest in Perry rises sharply after he drops out

Online interest in Rick Perry spiked significantly after the former Texas governor ended his 2016 presidential campaign, according to Google data.

The search engine reported Monday that there were six times more queries for Perry after the Republican dropped out of the race than when he was running:

People are more interested in @GovernorPerry since he stood down as presidential candidate https://t.co/tzJdAjrWEv pic.twitter.com/oxJOIDiIJv

— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) September 14, 2015

Google noted that Perry also saw an uptick last month when news emerged that he had stopped paying his campaign staff due to a lack of money.

News that Perry was suspending his second White House campaign became a trending topic on Twitter shortly after it was announced late Friday.

Campaign staffers acknowledged early missteps in interviews recently, and the campaign relied largely on volunteers for several weeks before he dropped out.

Perry was the first 2016 candidate to exit the campaign, leaving 16 other Republican hopefuls heading into the second GOP debate Wednesday night.