Donald Trump’s Town Hall Nearly Doubles CNN’s Debate Viewership

Former President Donald Trump’s town hall on Fox News Channel (FNC) Wednesday night received nearly double the viewership of CNN’s Republican primary debate featuring former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to data from AdImpact.

“Last night, Donald Trump’s town hall on FNC had nearly double the viewership of the 5th Republican Presidential Primary debate on CNN: an estimated 5.7M to 2.9M,” AdImpact announced, providing a chart of the estimated viewership of past debates and town hall events.

“The town hall was the most watched Presidential primary TV event we’ve tracked since November 8th,” it added.

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CNN

Indeed, the chart showed the first GOP debate, which took place on August 23, kicking off with a bang with 14.2 million estimated viewers. That only declined as the debates rolled on, descending to 9.9 million and 9.2 million, respectively. Trump participated in none of the debates, often offering counterprogramming — whether an interview with Tucker Carlson or meeting with striking autoworkers in Michigan.

Since that third Republican debate, which took place in early November and attracted 9.1 million viewers, there has not been a televised event that garnered as much viewership as Trump’s Fox News town hall Wednesday evening.

The Fox News town hall saw 5.7 million viewers, compared to 2.9 million who tuned in to CNN’s debate between the GOP frontrunner’s rivals — Haley and DeSantis.

Notably, the fourth Republican debate, which took place in early December, only drew 3.2 million viewers.

For greater comparison, DeSantis’s Fox News town hall had 3.7 million viewers, and Haley’s garnered 3 million:

#Election2024: Last night, Donald Trump's town hall on FNC had nearly double the viewership of the 5th Republican Presidential Primary debate on CNN: an estimated 5.7M to 2.9M.

The town hall was the most watched Presidential primary TV event we've tracked since November 8th. pic.twitter.com/92T14eCLTY

— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) January 11, 2024

Trump shared various clips of his town hall on Truth Social, blasting his opponents.

“DeSanctus wants to CUT Social Security and Medicare. Nikki Haley wants to CUT Social Security and Medicare,” he wrote.

“Nikki Haley wanted to raise the age from 65 to 74!” he exclaimed, sharing several other tidbits as well:

“I had NO WARS. I’m the only president in 72 years that didn’t have any wars!” Trump wrote, sharing a clip of the audience clapping at that proclamation:

“OUR ULTIMATE RETRIBUTION IS SUCCESS—MAGA!!!” Trump wrote, sharing a clip in which he stated that the ultimate retribution against the far-left targeting him is the success of America under his leadership:

The Iowa caucus is just days away, and Trump continues to lead by an average of 35.3 points in the Hawkeye State.