What Words Did Each Candidate Use Most Frequently During the Last Presidential Debate of 2020?

Sachs Media took a different approach to watching Thursday night’s last presidential debate – through an analysis of the words spoken by each candidate and the amount of time each controlled. The debate, widely lauded for its relative civility compared to the first mostly blustering and bombastic one, is also notable for the even distribution of time and words: Trump said a total of 7,403 words, and Biden, a total of 7,372. Trump had the mic for a total of 37 minutes and 34 seconds, and Biden for 38 minutes and 46 seconds. But the differences in the content of their remarks – at least in terms of the substantive words spoken – are what continue to set them apart. Among the top ten substantive words spoken by each, “money” was the 2nd most common said by Trump, but 2nd least common for Biden. Both candidates referred frequently to “China” and “president” but among the top ten, Trump was notable for his use of the word “close” while Biden for the word “open.” The word clouds below depict the substantive words spoken by each candidate, in scale to how frequently they said each.