The third GOP debate brought in lower ratings than the previous two—marking a continuing decrease in viewership in the 2024 battle for which Republican could best take on the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, who has skipped all of the debates.
In comparison, the annual Country Music Awards, which aired on ABC, got 1.71 million more viewers, or 6.63 million total viewers, with 800,000 of them in the 18-49 age category, according to Nielsen.
While the NBC debate did attract more overall viewers than CBS' “Survivor,” there were more in the 18-49 age group who watched the hit reality show than the debate, with 700,000 in that category.
Moreover, according to Nielsen, just over 12.8 million people tuned in to the first primary debate—hosted by Fox News on Aug. 23—with more than 2.8 million of them between the ages of 25 and 54, while the second one, on Sept. 27 on Fox Business Network, garnered 9.5 million viewers, 2 million of whom were in the 25-54 age range.
After all, it was inevitable that the ratings would be unimpressive, according to media experts who spoke to The Epoch Times.
“It is clear to me that this debate may not draw as many viewers as other primary debates held this year,” said George Mason University journalism professor David Miller before the debate.
“With the nation already divided and anxious, it is unlikely to have any significant impact,” he continued. “The producers may be hoping for sensational moments or soundbites that can be shared on social media, but only if the candidates are foolish enough to oblige.”
“If GOP primary voters are tuning out in growing numbers, due either to declining interest, fatigue, ‘boring’ campaigns, etc., it’s their loss,” T. Becket Adams, program director of the right-wing National Journalism Center, told The Epoch Times.
As to why the low ratings, Mr. Adams said he can only speculate as the “problem with speculation is that it’s all fluff and no substance.”
Still, despite the abysmal ratings, the debate did have memorable moments.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy blasted Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel for overseeing losses in 2018, 2020, 2022, and on Nov. 8. He said he is “sick of Republicans losing.”
Additionally, he called out the left-wing bias of NBC News.
“We need accountability,” he said, warning that the left-wing media would “rig” the 2024 election.
Moreover, he blasted former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for her hawkish position on the Hamas-Israel war, going so far as to call her “Dick Cheney in three-inch heels,” a reference to the former vice president, who was a military hawk.
Ms. Haley responded that she wears “five-inch heels” and “I don’t wear them unless you can run in them.” She added that her heels are not for a fashion statement, but rather “for ammunition.”
Not surprisingly, Ms. Haley went after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on China—a continuation of a feud that has lasted for several weeks. She said the Florida governor has yet to echo her pledge to stop normal trade relations with Beijing if they do not end their role in the fentanyl crisis in the United States.
Another contentious moment came when Mr. Ramaswamy said Ms. Haley’s daughter had been a long-time user of TikTok, whose parent company, BiteDance, has links to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Ms. Haley shot back. “You’re just scum.”
She said her daughter no longer uses TikTok.
“Credit where it’s due: NBC ran a fine debate, much to the pleasant surprise of its conservative critics,” said Mr. Adams. “The questions were substantive. The moderators were respectful but firm. The candidates were given a chance to debate.”
Amid the ratings so far, with the fourth debate scheduled for Dec. 6, another debate is emerging about the value of the events, given the absence of President Trump.
“I think it’s important that all candidates who are serious about winning the nomination attend these debates,” former Fox News producer Eduardo Neret told The Epoch Times.
“It’s an insult to voters for Donald Trump to skip these debates,” he continued. “Voters deserve to hear from him about where he stands on the issues in comparison to the other candidates.”
However, Mitchell McKinney, a political communications professor at the University of Akron, told The Epoch Times that President Trump “is not willing to subject himself to that same treatment, that same strategy that he used in 2016, in this cycle.”
Northeastern University journalism professor emeritus Alan Schroeder told The Epoch Times, “Given Trump’s enormous and consistent lead in the polls, there’s an argument to be made that none of the Republican primary debates so far has had much of an effect.”
