Twitter reacts to the first night of the Democratic debates

Twitter had a lot to say during the event. We've collected the tweets for you.

Published: June 26, 2019, 10:03 p.m. MDT

From left, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney pose for a photo on stage before the start of a Democratic primary debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Brynn Anderson, AP

TSALT LAKE CITY — The Democratic primary debates had their first round of action on Wednesday night.

Patricipants in the debate included:

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan

Twitter had a lot to say during the event. We’ve collected several popular tweets from the entire night and shared them below.

President Donald Trump weighed in:

BORING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019

.@NBCNews and @MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate. Truly unprofessional and only worthy of a FAKE NEWS Organization, which they are!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019

Others talked about what they saw from the entire debate:

On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is the debate having no impact and 10 is a huge impact, I'd guess this was like a 2 or a 3.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 27, 2019

Take note of what happened tonight. Not long ago, candidates didn’t talk about gun violence like this. Not this early in the election, not this powerfully. Tonight’s #DemDebate shows that our efforts are working.
— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) June 27, 2019

I don't know man. #DemDebate was all over the place. I can only imagine that's what early Wu Tang would have been like if they didn't have RZA to orchestrate.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) June 27, 2019

I’m exploding with excitement about the Democratic debates! (JOKE.)
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) June 27, 2019

I need to learn Spanish by tomorrow night at 9.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) June 27, 2019

I’m beginning to think Democrats should start voting candidates off Survivor Island based on height. Vote the tallest ones out first.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) June 27, 2019

My takeaway is that Warren did excellent as expected, but didn't get enough time & that Castro really distinguished himself. #DemDebate
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) June 27, 2019

So far, every candidate on stage has told voters that the economy isn't working, despite the fact that most think it is.
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) June 27, 2019

some of these names, I just don't need to learn, clearly
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) June 27, 2019

Two hours, but it's gonna feel like 200. https://t.co/ujP6lSSIsc
— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) June 27, 2019

Striking to me how much the messaging here goes after Trump’s perceived strength, the state of the economy.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 27, 2019

Interesting how many of these candidates would rather talk about abortion than Medicare for all.
— Margot Sanger-Katz (@sangerkatz) June 27, 2019

It appears the lower-tier candidates have decided its safer to try to flex by attacking O'Rourke than Warren.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) June 27, 2019

they should do e x a c t l y this again tomorrow night just to be fair
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) June 27, 2019

This is like a contest to see who can deliver platitudes most sincerely
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) June 27, 2019

Twitter released a collective groan over closing statements.

Closing already? That flew by.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 27, 2019

closing statements are dumb and should be nixed in favor of literally anything else
— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 27, 2019

These closing statements are a tornado of cliches #DemDebate #DemocraticDebate
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 27, 2019

There was an awkward moment when the microphones weren’t working quite right, which had Twitter laughing.

Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow spent a long time setting up the second hour of the debate - had to cut to break when the mics didn’t work
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 27, 2019

big loser of the night is this "Mike" guy
— Ariel Edwards-Levy (@aedwardslevy) June 27, 2019

Yikes. NBC goes to break after technical snafu at #DemDebate.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 27, 2019

Hug a technical engineer. It’s a high-stress job, and when you eff up, everyone is real mad.
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) June 27, 2019

And the winner is… La La Land!
— felix salmon (@felixsalmon) June 27, 2019

pic.twitter.com/VKfxymYBUR
— Shripal Shah (@shripal734) June 27, 2019

Producer's nightmare. #techfail
— Betsy Fischer Martin (@BFischerMartin) June 27, 2019

Castro and Beto sparred on the debate stage.

Castro to #Beto: “If you did your homework….” pic.twitter.com/UBvMporFKs
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) June 27, 2019

.@JulianCastro is winning this debate. Scored a hit with each answer so far. #demdebate
— Tyler Norris (@TXTylerNorris) June 27, 2019

Castro is really going after Beto’s 3%.
— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) June 27, 2019

Multiple candidates spoke in Spanish during the debate, which raised questions from Twitter.

I'm about to start grading the candidates on how good they sound in espanol. #DemDebate
— Isadora Rangel (@IsadoraRangel2) June 27, 2019

Whoever has to transcribe all this cross-talk is about to set their keyboard on fire, right?
— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) June 27, 2019

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker becomes a meme after Beto O'Rourke answers a debate question in Spanish.

Booker as Beto speaks in Spanish pic.twitter.com/pVYL3p0cun
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) June 27, 2019

Cory Booker, as Beto gives part of his answer in Spanish, and does not answer the question. pic.twitter.com/4jKNSrIPAx
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) June 27, 2019

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker later spoke in Spanish as well.

When Dad says "Hola, como estas?" to the waiter at the Mexican restaurant #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/64FY2LV6kp
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 27, 2019

CORY WAS STARING DAGGERS AT BETO SPEAKING SPANISH BECAUSE HE WAS PLANNING HIS OWN SPANISH REVEAL 😭
— Caity Weaver (@caityweaver) June 27, 2019

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