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How SOTU watchers reacted on social media

The president was cheered by some Republican lawmakers when he said he has no more campaigns to run, but quickly responded, saying, "I know, because I won both of 'em"
State of the Union 2015: Quick retort: "I won both of 'em" 00:45

Facebook and Twitter released early data on their users' reactions to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday. The top issues were largely economic, but the top social moment was clearly an ad-libbed quip.

"I have no more campaigns to run," President Obama said. The remark prompted some applause and snickering from the mostly-GOP audience, and he then responded: "I know, 'cause I won both of them."

The joke roused some hoots and hollers from members of Congress -- who just minutes earlier heard the president appeal for "a better politics," where "we debate without demonizing each other." Mr. Obama promptly returned to his remarks about bipartisanship, asking Republicans to "join me in the work at hand."

The president's impromptu jab spurred Shares and Tweets immediately on Facebook and Twitter, and resulted in the most Tweets per minute.

Over 2.6 million Tweets were fired off across the globe surrounding the State of the Union (And the related hashtag #SOTU), from the start of the address through the GOP response, according to a posting on Twitter's official blog. Facebook announced Wednesday "5.7 million people on Facebook made 13.8 million interactions (likes, posts, comments, shares) related to the President's State of the Union address" on the day of the address.

The president's proposals for providing free community college also generated buzz on social media, ranking among the top issues discussed on Facebook and Twitter.

According to Facebook, the demographic engaging most in conversation on the site during the speech was women between the age of 35 and 49, followed by men 35 to 49. Equal pay ranked among the top issues for women posting about the speech on Facebook but was not one of the top issues for men, according to the company.

Facebook said the states with the most engagement with the address were North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and South Carolina.

Stephanie Condon contributed to this report.

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