Ratings for the third Republican presidential debate fell nearly 50 percent from the first just three months ago.
An average of 7.51 million people watched Wednesday night’s NBC News-hosted debate, a significant drop from the first debate’s 13 million viewers, which many have attributed to former President Donald Trump’s continued dominance.
The second debate, held in California in September, raised 9.5 million, which at the time was a 25 percent drop from the first.
Trump has refused to attend debates because of his leading position in state and national polls, leaving his challengers to fight among themselves in televised events that fewer and fewer Americans are watching.
NBC attracted just 7.5 million viewers to the debate on Wednesday, a drop of nearly 50 percent from the 13 million who tuned in for the first in August. The debate was moderated by Lester Holt and Kristen Welker of NBC News (pictured together) and radio host Hugh Hewitt
The debate was marked by several hot-headed moments among the candidates, including former South Carolina Senator Nikki Haley (left) labeling businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (right) as “scum.”
Despite the dramatic loss of viewers, Wednesday night’s showing still produced the most-watched program in America for NBC that evening.
This included topping the Country Music Awards which aired on ABC, with a viewership rating of 7.51 combining TV, digital and streaming platforms.
While overall viewership was clearly down, NBC added in a press release that Wednesday’s debate was the most-streamed debate of the election cycle so far.
The network’s struggle to win viewers came after NBC host Lester Holt, who moderated the debate along with correspondent Kristen Welker and radio host Hugh Hewitt, fought to control the audience after a testy start.
After former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s opening statement drew cheers from the crowd, Holt quickly intervened to “alert the public.”
“Let’s not go down this road,” he said. “We’ve asked you to please restrain yourselves… these are important issues and voters want and need to hear them.”
Holt’s orders seemingly went unheard when shortly afterwards, after a question about why the candidates on stage should be nominated over Trump, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy responded loudly by criticizing the “corrupt media establishment” for “rigging” the election of 2020.
At that point, Holt again begged the audience to be quiet: “Audience, let’s not do this, let’s not do this. Let’s let the candidates speak.’
As the debate continued, Trump held a large rally nearby for cheering supporters, where he blasted his challengers for holding an “unwatchable” debate.
Former President Donald Trump mocked his Republican rivals participating in the presidential debate as he spoke to supporters at a nearby rally
The debate featured Republican presidential candidates (L-R), former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and US Senator Tim Scott.
Co-moderator Kristen Welker also drew the entrepreneur’s ire in a heated back-and-forth when he accused her of spreading reports of Russian collusion with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“Kristen – I’m going to use this time because this is about you in the media and the corrupt media establishment, you ask – the Trump-Russia hoax that you pushed on this network for years, was that real or did Hillary Clinton break it up ? -disinformation? Answer the question. Go,” he demanded.
The NBC News moderator didn’t get a chance to respond as the audience clapped and cheered, prompting Holt to again beg the crowd to be quiet.
Post-debate opinion columns largely singled out Haley as a strong presence in the debate, especially for her confrontations with Ramaswamy.
In particular, Ramaswamy repeated his attacks on Haley as a “war hawk” on the issue of Ukraine financing, appearing to describe her as “Dick Cheney in three-inch heels.”
Haley responded by joking that her heels are “not for fashion, they’re for ammunition.”
The former UN ambassador, who served in the role under President Trump, was also involved in a hostile moment with Ramaswamy over the TikTok issue, when the entrepreneur was raising her daughter.
After Haley joined her Republican rivals in condemning the Chinese-made social media platform, Ramaswamy claimed her daughter was spotted using the popular app.
In response, Haley warned Ramaswamy to “leave my daughter out of your vote,” adding that he was “scum.”
In a moving ending to the event, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott ended months of speculation about his love life by bringing his girlfriend, real estate agent Mindy Noce, to the stage.
Tim Scott revealed that the mystery woman he brought on stage at the end of the debate was his girlfriend, real estate agent Mindy Noce
In an exclusive post-debate poll, DeSantis defeated Haley out of sight Wednesday night in the third Republican presidential debate, according to an exclusive DailyMail.com poll of viewers.
In an exclusive DailyMail.com poll after the debate, viewers thought Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was the winner because he seemed the most presidential.
Viewers especially noticed his strength against Haley, with whom he has battled for second place in the polls in recent weeks after her campaign saw a surge in the polls.
In a head-to-head matchup, 56 percent of respondents said DeSantis outperformed Haley, according to a poll of 544 viewers conducted by JL Partners. In contrast, 35 percent said Haley did better.
And when asked who was best positioned to defeat the former president, 53 percent said DeSantis and 29 percent chose Haley.