Republican Debate Ratings Down 71% from 2015—Trump Absent, Beats GOP Rivals and Biden in Polls
The 2015 Fox News debate, which Trump attended, drew 24 million viewers, compared to Wednesday's 6 million.
The recent Republican presidential primary debates have seen a substantial decline in viewership, culminating in the third debate hosted by NBC News.
The Wednesday event attracted only 6.8 million viewers on linear television, a significant drop from earlier debates.
Notably, this figure represents a 45% decrease from the first debate of the current campaign season and a drastic 71% plunge from the 2015 debates.
The latest debate’s audience also fell short of the 9 million viewers who watched the second debate broadcasted on Fox Business and Fox News.
One key factor in this decline could be the absence of former President Donald Trump, who is leading in the GOP polls.
The 2015 Fox News debate, which Trump attended, drew a record 24 million viewers.
During the debate, GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy criticized Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel for the party’s recent electoral setbacks.
“Let’s speak the truth. Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost in 2018, 2020, 2022, no red wave that never came,” he stated. “I think that we have to have accountability in our party.”
Looking ahead, the fourth GOP primary debate is scheduled for December 6 in Alabama.
Former President Trump is not only beating his GOP rivals, he’s also leading President Joe Biden in the polls.
A recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows Trump ahead of Biden by 49% to 45% among registered voters.
This hypothetical rematch comes as Biden faces negative approval ratings and a general sentiment of dissatisfaction in the United States.
Furthermore, Biden is trailing Trump in five out of six key battleground states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania), as per polls by The New York Times and Siena College.
These states, all won by Biden in 2020, show him behind by margins of four to 10 percentage points, except in Wisconsin where he leads by two points.
The collective average in these battleground states puts Biden at a disadvantage of 48 to 44 percent.
The Times/Siena poll also highlights widespread discontent with Biden’s policies, revealing a fraying multiracial and multigenerational coalition that previously secured his victory.
Significantly, the support for Trump among Black voters in these states is at an unprecedented high of 22%, a significant development in modern presidential politics.