What’s Happening:
Last week, the Republican Party hosted its very first debate of the 2024 primary season. Eight candidates running for president went head-to-head, with Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy considered to be top performers of the night. Pundits have issued endless responses to the debate. And even Democrats were on hand to post comments about how they were triggered by the event.
I guess, it’s safe to say, that many Americans were watching this event. Even though the GOP frontrunner wasn’t there, many people were eager to hear from these leading figures. Now, the hard numbers are coming in. And it seems this event was a major win for the party.
From Fox News:
FOX News Media’s “Democracy 24: FOX News Republican Primary Debate” drew a staggering 12.8 million total viewers on Wednesday night, making it the most-watched, non-sporting event cable telecast of the year.
The debate drew 2.8 million viewers from the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, and outdrew 70% of presidential primary debates in the 2016 and 2020 cycles.
Wow. You better believe Fox is doing a victory dance over this news. But this is a bigger win for the GOP, who was able to bring in 12.8 million total viewers. This makes it the most-watched, non-sport event of the year.
What should that tell you? That Americans are paying close attention to the people running for president in 2024. While many are in the bag for Trump, many are looking at the other candidates and are eager to hear what they have to say.
Overall, Joe Biden should be worried. It is unlikely he will be able to draw those kinds of numbers. Considering his party is refusing to let him debate RFK or anyone else, it is safe to assume we’ll never know.
Will the GOP be able to keep this kind of momentum for the next few debates? That all depends on whether the candidates can build on this attention.
Key Takeaways:
- The first GOP debate brought in a reported 12.8 million views.
- That is the highest-viewed, non-sports cable event of the year.
- The debate featured the top eight candidates running for president as Republicans.
Source: Fox News
