(DCWatchdog.com) – A seemingly impressive number of viewers – 67 million – watched ABC News’ broadcast of the recent presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. That’s a massive audience, according to Nielsen ratings.
The event, broadcast across 17 networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, Fox, and CNN, drew more viewers than a previous debate between President Biden and Trump, which had 51.3 million viewers.
ABC News, the host of this debate, captured the largest portion of the audience with 19 million viewers, The New York Post reports.
Following close behind were Fox channels with a combined total of 14.2 million viewers. Other networks also had significant viewership numbers: NBC with 10.1 million, CBS with 6.2 million, MSNBC with 6.4 million, and CNN with 4.4 million.
The debate was a critical event, especially following President Biden’s widely criticized performance earlier in the year, leading him to decide against running for a second term and endorsing Harris as his successor.
The viewership, although impressive, did not surpass the record 73.1 million viewers who watched the first Biden-Trump debate four years ago, moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News.
During the 90-minute debate, viewers watched as Trump, aged 78, and Harris, aged 59, clashed on various issues.
Harris, who recently secured the Democratic presidential nomination, was particularly confrontational, citing criticisms of Trump by military leaders and international figures. Trump responded vigorously, especially on issues like abortion, foreign policy, and crime.
The moderators, David Muir and Lindsey Davis of ABC News, actively participated, fact-checking the candidates throughout the debate.
This led to some Republican complaints about the perceived leniency shown towards Harris.
Trump, for instance, was fact-checked by Muir when he attributed rising crime rates to migrants, a claim contradicted by FBI statistics showing a decline in violent crime.
Trump retorted that the statistics did not consider cities with the highest crime rates. Another correction came when Trump misstated the events surrounding Harris’ diplomatic efforts in Europe, leading Muir to challenge his statements directly.
In contrast to Biden’s June performance, Harris displayed stronger debating skills, but her performance and the moderation of the debate did not escape scrutiny.
Trump’s allies criticized the moderators for not challenging Harris enough, particularly on issues like IVF access and the right-wing Project 2025 initiative, despite Trump’s denials of supporting such policies.
Republican dissatisfaction was vocalized by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) who accused ABC News of failing to fact-check Harris on several points.
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