Debate night traffic: Harris-Trump matchup outpaced June’s showdown
Cloudflare’s network data from the September 10 debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shows that the event drew more attention online than the June 27 Biden-Trump debate. Nationwide internet requests fell by as much as 9% below the previous week’s levels at 21:15 EST (01:15 UTC), right after the debate began on ABC News from Philadelphia. By the time the debate wrapped around 22:45 EST (02:45 UTC), traffic was just 2% below the prior week’s baseline.
That 9% dip is a sharp contrast to the first debate, when traffic only dropped 2% below the week prior. Interestingly, both debates saw their largest declines at the same moment: shortly after the start, around 21:15 EST (01:15 UTC).
State-level declines were notably deeper this time
State-level traffic data shows a much more pronounced effect during the Harris-Trump debate than the June matchup. The most significant drops were in Vermont (-25%), Montana (-22%), and Idaho (-19%), while larger states like California (-11%), Texas (-10%), and New York (-14%) also saw notable declines. The biggest traffic reductions occurred in the opening minutes of the debate, up until the first break at roughly 21:30 ET (01:30 UTC).
For context, here’s how the state-by-state picture looked during the June Biden-Trump debate:
A detailed breakdown of the traffic changes, ordered by the magnitude of the drop, shows the timing of each state’s largest decline compared to the previous week at 5-minute granularity.
State | Drop in traffic (%) | Local Time | UTC |
|---|---|---|---|
Vermont | -25% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Montana | -22% | 19:10 MDT | 1:10 |
Idaho | -19% | 19:10 MDT | 1:10 |
Wyoming | -19% | 19:15 MDT | 1:15 |
North Dakota | -18% | 20:15 CDT | 1:15 |
Delaware | -15% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
Illinois | -15% | 20:20 CDT | 1:20 |
Mississippi | -14% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
New York | -14% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Rhode Island | -14% | 21:45 EDT | 1:45 |
West Virginia | -14% | 21:15 EDT | 1:15 |
Alabama | -13% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
Georgia | -13% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
South Carolina | -13% | 21:15 EDT | 1:15 |
Virginia | -13% | 21:15 EDT | 1:15 |
Colorado | -12% | 19:45 MDT | 1:45 |
Connecticut | -12% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Nevada | -12% | 18:20 PDT | 1:20 |
New Jersey | -12% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
Alaska | -11% | 17:15 AKDT | 1:15 |
California | -11% | 18:15 PDT | 1:15 |
Florida | -11% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
North Carolina | -11% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Wisconsin | -11% | 20:20 CDT | 1:20 |
Arkansas | -10% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
District of Columbia | -10% | 21:55 EDT | 1:55 |
Missouri | -10% | 20:25 CDT | 1:25 |
Oregon | -10% | 18:40 PDT | 1:40 |
Pennsylvania | -10% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
South Dakota | -10% | 20:20 CDT | 1:20 |
Texas | -10% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
Maryland | -9% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
Massachusetts | -9% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
New Hampshire | -9% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Oklahoma | -9% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
Arizona | -8% | 18:15 MST | 1:15 |
Indiana | -8% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Iowa | -8% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
Kentucky | -8% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Maine | -8% | 21:15 EDT | 1:15 |
Nebraska | -8% | 19:45 MDT | 1:45 |
Kansas | -7% | 20:25 CDT | 1:25 |
Louisiana | -7% | 20:20 CDT | 1:20 |
Michigan | -7% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
Minnesota | -7% | 20:30 CDT | 1:30 |
New Mexico | -7% | 19:25 MDT | 1:25 |
Washington | -7% | 18:05 PDT | 1:05 |
Hawaii | -6% | 15:20 HST | 1:20 |
Ohio | -6% | 21:15 EDT | 1:15 |
Tennessee | -6% | 20:05 CDT | 1:05 |
Utah | -6% | 19:10 MDT | 1:10 |
Swing states saw bigger drops than in June
The seven states considered decisive in the election — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — each saw traffic fall between 8% and 13%. That’s a wider range than the 5% to 8% declines recorded during the Biden-Trump debate.
State | Drop in traffic | Local Time | UTC |
|---|---|---|---|
Arizona | -8% | 18:15 MST | 1:15 |
Georgia | -13% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
Michigan | -7% | 21:20 EDT | 1:20 |
Nevada | -12% | 18:20 PDT | 1:20 |
North Carolina | -11% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Pennsylvania | -10% | 21:05 EDT | 1:05 |
Wisconsin | -11% | 20:20 CDT | 1:20 |
DNS trends: Harris, Trump, and the Swift endorsement
DNS data from Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 resolver reveals more targeted interest during and around the debate. For Kamala Harris-related domains, daily DNS traffic has climbed significantly since July 21, when Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris. Notable peaks appeared on August 30, the day after the Harris-Walz CNN interview, and on September 10, the debate day.
Looking at hourly data for September 10, DNS traffic to Harris-related sites peaked at the debate’s start (21:00 ET / 01:00 UTC) with a 54% increase over the previous week, then again after it ended (23:00 ET / 03:00 UTC) with a 56% rise. That second spike coincided with Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris.
Trump-related domains: peaks around key events
Trump-related domains show a different pattern, reflecting his longer-running campaign web presence. Daily DNS traffic has increased in recent months, with significant peaks on July 15 (two days after the assassination attempt), during the Republican National Convention (July 15–18), and the largest spike on August 12, following Elon Musk’s interview with Trump on X.
Hourly data from the debate shows Trump-related DNS traffic was 46% higher than the prior week around the debate’s start at 21:00 ET (01:00 UTC), and this elevated traffic persisted for several hours after the debate concluded.
News, microblogging, and election sites all saw surges
As with previous election-related events, the debate drove significant interest in US news organizations. Aggregated DNS traffic to general US news sites peaked at 22:00 ET (02:00 UTC), up 62% from the previous week. Elevated traffic was already visible before the debate, with a 19% increase at 20:00 ET (00:00 UTC), and continued after, with a 25% increase at 00:00 ET (04:00 UTC).
Microblogging platforms like X and Threads also outperformed their prior-week traffic through the debate, peaking at 16% growth around 22:00 ET (02:00 UTC).
Election-related websites, including official voter registration and election sites, saw notable DNS increases as well. On the morning of September 10, traffic was 38% higher at 10:00 ET (14:00 UTC), with a significant spike at 23:00 ET (03:00 UTC) right after the debate, where DNS traffic surged 76% compared to the previous week.
Email trends: Trump still dominates, Harris rising
From June 1 through August 21, Cloudflare’s Cloud Email Security service processed over 16 million emails mentioning “Donald Trump,” “Joe Biden,” or “Kamala Harris” in the subject line: 8.7 million referenced Trump, 4.8 million referenced Biden, and 3 million referenced Harris. The data shows a surge in Trump-related emails in mid-July, alongside a drop in Biden mentions and an increase in Harris mentions.
Since July 21, over 4.5 million emails have mentioned “Donald Trump,” over 1.5 million mentioned “Joe Biden,” and around 2.8 million mentioned “Kamala Harris” in the subject. Of those, 26.7% of emails with Trump’s name were classified as spam, and 2.4% as malicious. Kamala Harris’s figures were 1.1% spam and 0.2% malicious, while Biden’s were 1.1% spam and 0.1% malicious.
Since mid-August, there has been a slight increase in the percentage of spam and malicious emails mentioning Harris. Trump remains the candidate with the most mentions in email subjects and the highest rates of spam and malicious classification.
September attacks on political and news sites
Attacks on politically related websites remain a significant threat in 2024. Cloudflare blocked a DDoS attack targeting a US political-party related website on September 4, peaking at 140,000 requests per second (rps) and lasting about five minutes.
News organizations have also been targeted. On September 3, a DDoS attack hit a US news organization that covers politics, peaking at 343,000 rps and lasting about five minutes.
These short-lived attacks are typical. As noted in Cloudflare’s Q2 DDoS report, most HTTP DDoS attacks peak at under 50,000 rps (81%), and only 7% reach between 100,000 and 250,000 rps. While a 140,000 rps attack may be manageable for a major provider, it can be devastating for websites without that level of protection.
