South Bend Mayor and presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg's Google searches rose — and an aide claimed his fundraising did likewise — after the dark horse candidate's CNN town hall appearance over the weekend, when he called Vice President Mike Pence a "cheerleader of the porn star presidency."

Buttigieg, who launched a presidential exploratory committee earlier this year, was the subject of more Google searches during and in the 24 hours after his town hall than were each of three top Democrats: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

So far, Buttigieg has remained largely unknown outside Indiana. Only 1 percent of more than 15,000 Democrats surveyed in the most recent Morning Consult poll, conducted March 4-10 and released Tuesday, chose Buttigieg as their top 2020 candidate, and 62 percent of them hadn't heard of Buttigieg.

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However, Google search trends are a sign that people were interested in Buttigieg across the U.S. — at least immediately following his town hall appearance.

It's not unusual for a candidate to see a spike in Google searches, but Buttigieg received more Google attention than did two other candidates who spoke at CNN town halls the same night.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Buttigieg said he raised over $600,000 from more than 22,000 donations in the 24 hours following his town hall. That would bring him closer to joining Democrats on the debate stage this June: Candidates need at least 65,000 unique donors or to be at 1 percent or higher in three polls leading up to the debates.

During his CNN town hall, which took place in Austin, Texas, Buttigieg called for an end "to the war on trans Americans," criticized fellow Indiana native Pence and addressed climate change.

"How could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency?" Buttigieg asked. "Is it that he stopped ... believing in Scripture when he started believing Donald Trump? I don't know."

His appearance resonated on Twitter, with people such as singer Ben Folds and former Barack Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod weighing in.

"Crisp, thoughtful and relatable," Axelrod tweeted. "He’ll be a little less of a long shot tomorrow."

The Republican Party weighed in as well, criticizing his South Bend record.

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"Instead of focusing on his town's sea of potholes & sky-high crime rate," the GOP tweeted, "Buttigieg has spent years ignoring his duties as Mayor of South Bend & focusing on launching a Presidential campaign."

The national buzz may not last: By Tuesday, Buttigieg's Google searches had dropped back down below those of Biden and Sanders.

Andy Downs, a political scientist at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said the extra buzz and money are a good sign, but it's not that surprising that people would search for him more, because he is relatively unknown.

"While he is covering the same material as (other candidates), he's getting good at delivering it. So I would not be surprised that after a good performance, that people would suddenly say 'I'm interested, I'm intrigued,' " Downs said. "Now the questions is, can he convert the searches into donors? And can he convert the searches into additional support?"

Call IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.