Democrats' Reaction To GOP Debate: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders And Martin O'Malley Use Social Media To Criticize Candidates

As the Republican presidential candidates interrupted each other and the GOP debate moderators helplessly rang their be-quiet bell Tuesday night, the Democrats used Twitter and text messages to spread their reactions. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign continued with its tradition of sending text message responses to supporters, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley each published a few topical tweets.

Clinton's name was one of the most-uttered phrases of the night, at one point even inspiring the crowd to boo, and her camp launched offensives of its own in response. They were mostly centered around the issues -- for example, one text message read "I've heard nothing about these candidates about a real path to citizenship," coupled with a GIF -- and were fewer in number than during the last debate, when Clinton herself took the reins.

On Twitter, her posts were mainly retweets of volunteers. None of Clinton's tweets Tuesday night were signed "-H," indicating her personal authorship.

Sanders tweeted five times throughout the night. His first message was in support of Raise the Wage rallies that took place across the country Tuesday demanding a $15 minimum wage -- which several GOP candidates said they opposed at the debate. Sanders' campaign tweeted, "Let us stand today with the tens of millions of workers who are working hard to put food on the table."

Later, when the candidates discussed entitlement reform, Sanders took aim at Republican front-runner and billionaire Donald Trump: "Right now, Trump pays the same amount of money into Social Security as someone who makes $118,500 a year." He stayed on message and used a similar critical tone in subsequent tweets:

O'Malley tweeted the least of the candidates, though when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said it's offensive to read news stories criticizing deportation, his campaign got sassy. He also backed the Raise the Wage initiative.

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who is said to be exploring an independent bid for the nomination, was silent on social media. Sanders, Clinton and O'Malley were set to debate Saturday at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.