For viewers watching the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, there was plenty to keep track of during the 90-minute event. There were, of course, each candidate’s answers, which offered a lot of material for fact-checkers to go over Monday night. But there were also many other possible lists: There was, for instance, the number of times Trump readjusted his microphone on the podium (quite a bit), or grabbed a sip of water (more than expected). There was also the number of GIF-able laughs and deadpan stares from Clinton (they’re being retweeted already).
But one number stands above others and, perhaps, says a lot about the dynamics of the first debate: the number of interruptions Hillary Clinton experienced during the first 26 minutes of the debate, 25. Trump interrupted Clinton 25 times during the first 26 minutes of the debate, according to a count by Vox. Moderator Lester Holt also interrupted Clinton 15 times during the same time frame. As a result, Clinton worked her way through 40 interruptions during the first segment of the nation’s first debate featuring a woman candidate from a major political party.
However you count that — with fingers, toes, or tallies on a napkin — it’s a lot. And it probably requires stamina, which Trump reminded everyone he has a lot of, too.