Top Tweets of the Presidential Race
Look back at some of the most memorable moments from the social media platform.
— -- This year’s presidential race has been unprecedented for a number of reasons, including the influence of social media. Discussions about the election have extended far beyond the campaign trail and onto platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
With the election just a day away, here’s a look back at some of the candidates’ biggest social moments:
Using the Delete Key
After Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticize President Obama's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the Clinton account responded back with a cutting three-word response.
"Delete your account" is commonly used on social media to dismiss opinions that are deemed unworthy of further engagement. This particular missive became Clinton's most popular tweet, with more than 510,000 retweets and 674,000 “likes.”
The Trump account's response to this tweet became his most retweeted; it was shared more than 166,000 times.
Trump Talks Taco Bowls
Trump observed Cinco de Mayo by tweeting a picture of himself eating a taco bowl with a caption reading, in part, "I love Hispanics." The image quickly went viral. The tweet was widely ridiculed, with many deriding it as a tone-deaf attempt at Latino outreach.
To Every Girl Who Dreams Big
On June 7, Clinton became the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, making her the first woman to lead a major party ticket. Clinton herself penned this tweet to mark the historic event. It is one of her top five most-widely retweeted.
The Tweetstorm Heard Across the Country
After Speaker Paul Ryan told Republican House members that he would no longer defend or campaign with Trump, the GOP nominee launched a Twitter tirade against Republican leadership. He slammed the speaker of the House as "a weak and ineffective leader" and criticized his party for disloyalty.
War of the Retweets
Each of the candidates dredged up old tweets to use against their opponent. Clinton reminded her Twitter followers of Trump's allegations about Obama's nationality by quoting one of his tweets from 2012.
After Clinton said "you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," Trump retweeted this 2012 message from Obama's campaign account (the tweet had been originally written in response to a comment from Mitt Romney).
At the first presidential debate, Trump denied calling global warming a Chinese hoax. The Clinton campaign was quick to pounce on this Trump tweet from 2012.