Biden-Trump Presidential Debate Ratings Down Significantly From 2020

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The TV ratings for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump’s first presidential debate plummeted from where they were four years ago when the two men faced off in September 2020.

Numbers from Nielsen show that a total of 51.27 million people tuned in on Thursday to watch the CNN-hosted Presidential Debate on TV, which was broadcast over 17 networks including CNN, Telemundo, Univision, BET, as well as Fox News Channel, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and PBS, Variety reported.

In the key demographic of ages 25-54, an average of 12.6 million viewers tuned in to see Biden and Trump debate, the outlet noted.

CNN is touting the debate as giving the network its largest audience on record for its new CNN on Max streaming service, but did not release the numbers.

“Across CNN’s digital platforms, the debate was CNN’s biggest debate ever and tied with our biggest live stream event ever with 2.3 million concurrent live views at 9:47 p.m,” the network said, noting it generated more than 30 million views on YouTube and its digital platforms.

The previous most-watched event on CNN was in 2015 when Republican candidates debated Trump as they vied for the party’s nomination, averaging 23.1 million viewers, CBS noted.

While the network is celebrating the ratings, compared to four years ago, the numbers are down. The ratings for the first presidential debate are down by 30 percent on TV and cable from the 73 million plus who tuned in to watch the same two candidates spar in 2020.

Thursday’s numbers also pale in comparison to how many people tuned in for the first presidential debate in 2016 between Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, which scored a record 84 million viewers.

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During the 90 minute debate, viewers watched Biden have a rough night, looking frail compared to Trump, as the president rambled and stumbled his way through.

Comments after the debate ranged from Democrats being in a panic to podcast hosts like Megyn Kelly stating that “it’s over for Joe Biden.”

During Kelly’s 2024 Post-Debate Special, she said Biden’s “presidential campaign came to an end tonight, whether he knows it or not. There will be meetings tonight, first thing tomorrow amidst Democratic Party leaders about how to get him off the ticket.”

“How to change into someone else. There have to be,” she added. “Already, we are seeing some reaction from top Democrats, who rarely criticize the president, suggesting he needs to have a serious look at this performance tonight and assess for himself whether he can go forward.”



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