Topline
The second Republican presidential debate of the year raked in 9.8 million viewers Wednesday night, according to Nielsen, a sharp drop off from the first debate that took place in late August, which beat expectations with 12.8 million viewers to become the most-watched political faceoff since 2020.
Seven presidential candidates attended the second Republican presidential primary debate. (Photo by … [+]
Key Facts
The broadcast was aired on three different channels—Fox News, which brought in 6.7 million viewers, Fox Business (1.8 million) and Univision (813,000).
The debate, which featured heated exchanges and name calling from seven Republican presidential candidates, was not attended by former President Donald Trump, who instead spent time blasting electric cars at an auto worker rally in Michigan.
The debate drew nearly 2 million viewers from the 25-54 year old age range, a key demographic group.
No other program on cable or network television attracted as many viewers as the debate did Thursday night.
Key Background
Trump’s absence from the debate was a topic touched on by participating candidates including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Christie said Trump was afraid of defending his record and being on stage before referring to the former president as “Donald Duck” for avoiding the debate. Trump also decided to skip out on the first debate in August. A Tucker Carlson-hosted interview with the former president was posted around the same time the first debate aired. Trump took the opportunity to explain his reasons for skipping out on the debate, saying it was useless to do so because he was leading his competitors in the polls and didn’t want to be pressed by people who “shouldn’t even be running for president.”
Further Reading
5 Takeaways From Last Night’s GOP Debate—Trump Skips, Ramaswamy Spars And Christie Name-Drops ‘Donald Duck’ (Forbes)
‘They’re Gutless’: Trump Blasts Car Companies Over EV Pivot In Debate Counterprogramming Speech (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/09/28/gop-debate-viewership-tumbles-25-from-first-event/