Primary · Democratic · 25 February 2020
Democratic Candidates Debate in Charleston, South Carolina
Full transcript: The American Presidency Project (opens The American Presidency Project in a new tab)
Speaking turns
549
19,202 words transcribed
Candidates' share
82%
7 candidates
Moderators' share
18%
moderators, panellists, questioners
Crosstalk markers
64
0 turns end on a dash
The debate, turn by turn
Read left to right: each block is one turn, placed where it falls in the running word count and as wide as it is long.
Candidates Moderators, panellists, questioners Audience, recorded clips, unidentified
Share of words
A stand-in for talk time.
- Bloomberg13.4%39 turns
- Klobuchar13.2%42 turns
- Buttigieg12.9%50 turns
- Biden12.7%59 turns
- Sanders11.8%63 turns
- Warren11.4%48 turns
- King7.6%82 turns
- Steyer6.2%30 turns
- O'Donnell5.3%69 turns
- Brennan2.3%31 turns
- Garrett1.6%18 turns
- Whitaker1.1%15 turns
- Recorded clips0.5%1 turn
- Audience0.1%2 turns
How long each turn ran
Ticks are single turns; boxes span the middle half; the heavy bar is the median.
Every speaker
Show the full speaker table
| Speaker | Role | Turns | Words | Share | Median turn | Longest | Ends on a dash | Reading grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg | Candidates | 39 | 2,567 | 13.4% | 33 | 246 | 0 | 5.2 |
| Klobuchar | Candidates | 42 | 2,536 | 13.2% | 13 | 245 | 0 | 6.5 |
| Buttigieg | Candidates | 50 | 2,481 | 12.9% | 11 | 255 | 0 | 7.2 |
| Biden | Candidates | 59 | 2,440 | 12.7% | 6 | 267 | 0 | 4.7 |
| Sanders | Candidates | 63 | 2,259 | 11.8% | 11 | 159 | 0 | 6.8 |
| Warren | Candidates | 48 | 2,190 | 11.4% | 13 | 236 | 0 | 5.1 |
| King | Moderators, panellists and questioners | 82 | 1,450 | 7.6% | 8 | 178 | 0 | 4.7 |
| Steyer | Candidates | 30 | 1,193 | 6.2% | 15 | 149 | 0 | 6.5 |
| O'Donnell | Moderators, panellists and questioners | 69 | 1,013 | 5.3% | 7 | 77 | 0 | 5.6 |
| Brennan | Moderators, panellists and questioners | 31 | 434 | 2.3% | 5 | 78 | 0 | 5.6 |
| Garrett | Moderators, panellists and questioners | 18 | 303 | 1.6% | 7 | 96 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Whitaker | Moderators, panellists and questioners | 15 | 213 | 1.1% | 3 | 63 | 0 | 8.0 |
| Recorded clips | Audience, recorded clips and unidentified | 1 | 98 | 0.5% | 98 | 98 | 0 | – |
| Audience | Audience, recorded clips and unidentified | 2 | 25 | 0.1% | 13 | 25 | 0 | – |
As the 2025 scraper split it
The notebook's own Participants and Moderators fields, reproduced exactly by the TypeScript port.
- Participants
- Former Vice President Jospeh Biden; Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg (New York City); Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, IN); Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN); Senator Bernie Sanders (VT); Tom Steyer; and; Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA)
- Moderators
- Margaret Brennan (CBS News); Major Garrett (CBS News); Gayle King (CBS News); Norah O'Donnell (CBS News); and; Bill Whitaker (CBS News)
- Listing date
- February 25, 2020