Context Matters, Tracking Quote Spread Across The Web In A Historic Year

Hindsight is 20/20. And as we usher in a new president in what has been one of the most tumultuous years in American history, we can begin to see clarity about the forces that moved throughout our jobs, our lives, and our collective imagination.

Another way to put this is that over time we tend to have more context.

Within Diffbot’s Knowledge Graph, one unique lens through which we can leverage the context of semantic data is by looking at the speakers of quotes.

When our AI reads articles it pulls out quotes, and when it can it attributes a speaker to these quotes. As our crawlers traverse the entirety of the public web, sources of quotes are validated and over time some quotes circulate more than others.

When performing a facet search, this lets us essentially show something like a retweet count for the entire web. This answers questions like whose voices are being heard? And what speakers are the most widely cited in a given topic?

To commemorate the end of an era, let’s take a look at a few of the most circulated statements of the last 365 days.

What were the 10 most circulated quotes across the web by President Joe Biden in the last 365 days?

type:Article date<365d quotes.speaker:"Joe Biden" facet:quotes.quote

1. I ask everyone to stay calm. The process is working.
2. It is the will of the voters. No one, not anyone else who chooses the president of the United States of America.
3. I will govern as an American president.
4. The Associated Press continues to watch and analyze vote count results from Arizona as they come in.
5. That’s the decision of the American people
6. It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who’s won this election.
7. Shouldn’t have a debate.
8. There is no defense for a President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before.
9. Undo the damage.
10. The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest.

What were the 10 most circulated quotes across the web by President Donald Trump in the last 365 days? 

type:Article date<365d quotes.speaker:"Donald Trump" facet:quotes.quote

1. When the looting starts, the shooting starts.
2. Take the Senate.
3. Will be a big part of why they won.
4. Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.
5. I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead.
6. The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend.
7. As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them in the United States.
8. Rounding the turn.
9. If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money.
10. These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.

What were the 5 most circulated quotes across the web by Vice President Kamala Harris in the last 365 days?

type:Article date<365d quotes.speaker:"Kamala Harris" facet:quotes.quote

1. There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day.
2. While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.
3. I would trust the word of public health experts and scientists, but not Donald Trump.
4. The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.
5. We are never going to condone violence but we must always fight for the values that we hold dear.

What were the 5 most circulated quotes across the web by Vice President Mike Pence in the last 365 days?

type:Article date<365d quotes.speaker:"Mike Pence" facet:quotes.quote

1. I must tell you the intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.
2. The American people are going to take a look at this nominee and conclude, as we are likely to conclude, that she well deserves to be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
3. I’m confident he’s going to make an outstanding nomination.
4. We expect this to be a very high stakes confirmation.
5. I want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every day, President Trump and I stand with you.

What were the 3 most circulated quotes across the web by President Joe Biden on Covid-19 in the last 365 days? 

type:Article date<365d tags:"Covid-19" quotes.speaker:"Joe Biden" facet:quotes.quote

1. Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts.
2. I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about.
3. We need to be honest — the next few weeks and months are going to be very tough, very tough for our nation. Maybe the toughest during this entire pandemic.

What were the 3 most circulated quotes across the web by President Donald Trump on Covid-19 in the last 365 days?

type:Article date<365d tags:"Covid-19" quotes.speaker:"Donald Trump" facet:quotes.quote

1. This direct support can make a critical difference not just in helping families and businesses in a time of need, but in limiting long-lasting damage to our economy.
2. We will be doing another stimulus package. It will be very good. It will be very generous.
3. It’s a milestone for our country.