Monday Night's Debate Was The Most-Watched In History

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Monday night's presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump drew at least 81 million viewers.

That's more than the number of people who watched the 1980 Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan debate.

The big question on Tuesday was: Who will the debate help?

Political analyst Larry Jacobs says Clinton scored more debate points, but neither candidate scored a knockout punch.

"Donald Trump started off the night looking surprisingly presidential. He had a nice demeanor. He was calm, cool and collected," Jacobs said. "But Hillary Clinton got to him."

Trump's expressions on a split TV screen became a social media meme. So did his sniffles, and the 51 times he interrupted Clinton.

On Facebook, 79 percent of the posts were Trump related. Clinton, on the other hand, dominated Google searches.

Meanwhile, Twitter set a record, with more tweets Monday night than the 10.3 million during the 2012 debates.

The most talked about moment in the debate was the "temperament" exchange.

"I think my strongest asset, by far, maybe is my temperament," Trump said. "I have a winning temperament. I know how to win. She does not know how to win!"

Trump advisors said Tuesday he was treated unfairly by the moderator, and they are hinting he might not show up for the next presidential debate.

The next debate will be held in St. Louis on Oct. 9. It will be done in a town hall format.

The networks producing the debate have agreed to use questions voted on by people on the internet in addition to questions from the debate audience.

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