Four million turn into the fourth Republican debate – a drop from SEVEN MILLION: Viewing figures deteriorate as Trump stays away and candidates keep bickering on stage
Cable and TV viewers are losing interest in the on-stage squabbles between the GOP presidential candidates, according to the latest ratings data released after Wednesday night’s event.
A total of 4 million people tuned in to watch the showdown between the four candidates hoping to unseat front-runner Donald Trump, according to data released by NewsNation, which broadcast the debate from Alabama.
That included 1.6 million people who watched it on the growing NewsNation network and 2.5 million who tuned in on the CW stations that simulcast. It was a record for NewsNation and the largest audience since 2018 for The CW.
But numbers for the debate, in which Vivek Ramaswamy called Nikki Haley “corrupt” and Chris Christie called Ramaswamy a “moron” while Ron DeSantis offered muted criticism of absentee front-runner Trump, were below the 6.9 million who tuned in third debate on NBC.
4 million people watched the fourth GOP primary debate, which was broadcast by NewsNation and simulcast by the CW network.
Spectators dropped with every debate.
Including streaming, the debacle was watched by 7.5 million people.
That itself was down 21 percent from the October debate, when 9.5 million people checked the GOP field on Fox, Fox Business and Univision.
The first debate on Fox and Fox Business attracted the largest audience: 12.8 million people. From each discussion to the next there was a decrease in the number of viewers.
The fourth GOP debate drew about 1 million fewer people than those who tuned in to watch DeSantis debate Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel show. The solo event drew 5 million people, roughly double Hannity’s typical audience. The event had been hyped for weeks and featured angry crosstalk between the two candidates and graphics produced by Hannity’s staff showing issues of crime and immigration.
NewsNation CEO Sean Compton called the ratings a remarkable achievement for the new network.
Ratings for the Alabama debacle were down 3 million viewers from the previous debate.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called his 2024 opponent Vivek Ramaswamy a “weirdo a**” with “women’s issues” during an interview with CNN following the contentious fourth Republican primary debate on Wednesday night.
Christie calls Vivek Ramaswamy ‘boastful’
Former FOX News anchor and moderator Megyn Kelly was one of three moderators on Wednesday.
Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie tried to persuade Ron DeSantis to take a stronger blow to Trump
DeSantis did not call Trump “unfit” but noted that his opponent is 77 years old.
Nikki Haley gained support in the polls amid the debate while being attacked by Ramaswamy and other rivals.
Trump skipped the debate and appeared at a Manhattan courthouse on Thursday for his fraud trial.
“NewsNation was incredibly honored to host last night’s debate, and we’re thrilled that so many viewers tuned in and watched,” he said. “This debate represents a remarkable achievement for a cable news network that is only three years old.”
It comes amid pressure from Donald Trump’s allies to abandon the debate altogether to enter the race against Joe Biden, while Trump leads his rivals by about 40 percentage points in the polls.
But CNN announced Thursday it will host debates next month in Iowa and New Hampshire, with DeSantis and Ramaswamy already signaling interest.
Republican National Committee spokesman Keith Schipper made it clear on Thursday X that the two CNN caucuses “are not RNC-sanctioned debates,” but the Republican National Committee is mulling a rule change that would exempt GOP candidates from participating only in sanctioned debates. NRC.
Wednesday’s event was hosted by conversation host Megyn Kelly, Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Free Beacon, and NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas.
In it, Christie called Ramaswamy a “moron” with “woman problems” and “the worst braggart in America.”
Ramaswamy held up a sign that read “Hayley = Corruption” and condescended to tell Christy to “enjoy the good food and get the hell out of this race.”
DeSantis criticized Trump, 77, because of his age but refused to call him unfit, despite lectures from Christie about ignoring a leader who wasn’t even there.
“Father Time is unbeatable, the idea that we’ll put somebody in there who’s almost 80 years old and there won’t be any consequences – we all know that’s not true,” he said, not taking Christie’s bait and not calling Trump. “unsuitable”
Trump wrote that the debate without him was a student affair. He re-released a poll analysis showing that his roughly 40-point lead has actually widened since the first debate in August.