Harris’ Mauling of Trump During Debate Drives Huge Ratings
Preliminary Nielsen ratings show 31% more viewers watched Tuesday night’s debate than the Biden-Trump matchup in July.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
The ratings are in for Tuesday night’s presidential debate—and former President Donald Trump’s first face off the with Vice President Kamala Harris was a certified hit.
The ABC News telecast scored around 67.14 million viewers across its simulcast on CNN, Fox News, Fox Business and MSNBC networks, according to Nielsen’s final ratings figures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Compared to Trump’s face off with President Joe Biden on June 27, in which many felt Biden poorly performed, Tuesday’s debate reportedly scored roughly 16 million more viewers—a 31 percent jump.
The average audience for a presidential debate has hovered around 59.1 million viewers since 1960, reported THR. Tuesday’s numbers are likely to surpass the average but fall short of beating the ratings for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 face-off against Trump.
Trump spent most of the 90-minute debate attacking Harris on immigration and abortion policy stances, while peddling a number of baseless conspiracy theories.
Trump conceded that Harris did a “good job” when they came face to face again Wednesday during an anniversary event memorializing 9/11 in New York City.
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However, it remains to be seen if the two candidates will face off again before Election Day.
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