Twitter commentary about the first presidential debate.

Here’s What Twitter’s Smartest Liberals and Conservatives Are Saying About the First Presidential Debate

Here’s What Twitter’s Smartest Liberals and Conservatives Are Saying About the First Presidential Debate

Who's winning, who's losing, and why.
Sept. 26 2016 6:07 PM

What Twitter Pundits Are Saying About the First Presidential Debate

Check out the instant spin room.

160926_POL_Twitter-Debate
Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump.

Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Mark Makela/Getty Images, Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

Monday night’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump, the first of the campaign cycle, is predicted to be one of the most-watched political events in a generation. The New York Times reports that the total audience could be as high as 100 million, and an uncommonly large number of those people haven’t yet figured out who they’re voting for. The latest polls put the race at a dead heat.

Pundits and politicos will be watching closely. Will Clinton be able to knock Trump off balance? Will she cough or appear otherwise less than perfect? Will Trump do anything truly unhinged? Will the moderator, Lester Holt, fact-check lies and inaccuracies? Will Gennifer Flowers show up? And when it’s all over, will voters and the media grade Trump fairly or on a gold-and-marble curve? Below are commentators’ live tweets, drawn from a list of top accounts curated by Slate. Those who lean left are on the left; those who lean right are on the right. Enjoy the instant spin.


Andrew Kahn is Slate’s assistant interactives editor. Follow him on Twitter.

Jeremy Stahl is a Slate senior editor. You can follow him on Twitter.