Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was mentioned on the cable news networks last week nearly twice as often as any other Democratic presidential candidate, according to a FiveThirtyEight article published Monday.
Sanders was mentioned 551 times on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News from March 31-April 6. That significantly outnumbers any of the other candidates with Sanders’ mentions, beating out the second- and third-most referenced candidates combined, which are former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke at 300 mentions and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 216.
After them, the candidates who got the most recognition on the networks were California Sen. Kamala Harris with 198 mentions, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan with 165 and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 163. Ryan announced his candidacy last Thursday, which likely caused the spike in mentions.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren (C), Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks with US Senator Bernie Sanders (2nd R), Independent from Vermont, as they discusses Medicare for All legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2017. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Former United States Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker rounded out the top ten.
Buttigieg saw one of the biggest jumps from two weeks ago to last. Two weeks ago, he found himself on the list of candidates that were mentioned on those networks “60 or less times.” During that time frame, both Klobuchar and Booker went from being mentioned “greater than 60 times” to less than that the past week.
Neither FiveThirtyEight article tracked the number of mentions for former Vice President Joe Biden because he has yet to join the race. Despite the fact that he’s leading many polls, he’s faced criticism after a number of women came forward and accused him of inappropriate touching. (RELATED: CNN, MSNBC, Ignore Inappropriate Kissing Allegations Against Biden)
Gillibrand, Castro, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, author Marianne Williamson and entrepreneur Andrew Yang will each be having town halls on CNN this week.