As billionaire Donald Trump surges in the 2016 presidential polls, Capitol Hill is obsessed, at least as measured by the tweets about him.
Trump has garnered 903 Twitter mentions from the Hill this month as he questioned Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) war hero status and took the lead in national polls. Only Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton comes close to his congressional Twitter numbers, with 574 mentions so far in July and no other candidate breaking 200.
These are the candidates, in order of Hill Twitter mentions:
1. Donald Trump: 903
2. Hillary Clinton: 574
3. Ted Cruz: 187
4. Bernie Sanders: 182
5. Scott Walker: 179
6. Lindsey Graham: 150
7. Jeb Bush: 147
8. Marco Rubio: 127
9. Rand Paul: 52
10. John Kasich: 39
11. Rick Perry: 32
12. Mike Huckabee: 29
13. Chris Christie: 26
14. Martin O'Malley: 23
15. Ben Carson: 19
16. Jim Webb: 13
16. Bobby Jindal: 13
18. Carly Fiorina: 12
19. Rick Santorum: 11
20: George Pataki: 4
21. Lincoln Chafee: 3
These are the top tweets on Twitter favorite Trump so far this month:
J.P. Freire, communications director, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah):
"Campaign manager to Donald Trump: 'Wait. You spent how much on that hat?' Trump: 'A million dollars' Camp.mgr: 'How much.' Trump: 'A dollar'"
Liz Margolis, communications director, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.):
"Anyone have Donald Trump's cell #? Asking for a friend."
Chris Peleo-Lazar, correspondence manager, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.):
"I've been referring to Donald Trump as future God Emperor. I think that's the AP Style."
Greg Brooks, communications director, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio):
"John McCain and Donald Trump is really a tale of two very different hotels."
Matt Moberly, caseworker, Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.):
"Look, if Trump doesn't send me a single email asking for money, I may just have to vote for him."
