An inside look at the insanity of the Spin Room at the first 2020 Democratic debate

Carlo Allegri/Reuters

There were intense scenes in the Spin Room at the first 2020 Democratic debate in Miami on Wednesday and Thursday.
With 20 candidates participating in the debate, the Spin Room was an absolute madhouse.
Reporters really had to fight to gain access to the candidates when they came out to take questions.
If you weren’t careful, you could get elbowed in the face or find yourself trampled by a stampede of camera people running to catch up with candidates.
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MIAMI, Fla. — With 20 candidates debating over the course of two nights at the first Democratic debate in Miami, the Spin Room was an absolute madhouse.

If you weren’t careful, you could easily catch an elbow to the face as journalists and camera people jockeyed for the best positions to gain access to candidates and surrogates.

You were also liable to get caught in a stampede as candidates moved across the room and the media obediently followed like moths to a flame.

Here’s an inside look at the insanity of the Spin Room.

The Spin Room gets its name from the fact it’s where candidates and their surrogates go to "spin" perceptions of how they performed in a debate. It’s also where journalists sit and write during the debate. Most aren’t actually in the room where the debate occurs, but in a big space nearby.

John Haltiwanger/INSIDER

Before and early on in the debate, the spin room was fairly empty.

John Haltiwanger/INSIDER

But that didn’t last long. Roughly 10 to 15 minutes before the debate ended, the room was buzzing.

John Haltiwanger/INSIDER

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