Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised $1.3 million in four hours after the first Democratic presidential debate started on Tuesday night, according to his campaign.
His campaign blasted out an email seeking donations from his line defending Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of State.
{mosads}The remark from Sanders was the most retweeted of any candidate of the night with more than 12,000 shares on social media. It was also one of the night’s most memorable moments and helped contribute to Sanders dominating attention on social media and in online searches.
Sanders slightly edged out Clinton for most Twitter mentions during the debate, with 41 percent of the tweets to Clinton’s 39 percent, based on metrics released by the social media platform.
The three other candidates on stage – former Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee — took a combined 20 percent.
Sanders, who also gained the most followers on Twitter during the debate in Las Vegas, was also the most searched candidate throughout the debate based on data provided by Google.
Sanders was also listed as the top candidate discussed during the debate on Facebook.
The self-described democratic socialist has an avid online following, which often boosts his social media profile even during Republican presidential debates.
Sanders’s campaign reported raising $26 million during the previous quarter this year, closely behind Clinton’s $28 million. That included $2 million in online donations for Sanders on the final filing day of that quarter.