Ratings for Thursday’s debate between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom surpassed audience figures for recent town halls featuring DeSantis’ Republican primary rival and frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
The 90-minute face-off between the governors of Florida and California moderated by Fox News’ anchor Sean Hannity garnered an average of 4.75 million viewers during the live program and 706,000 during the rebroadcast, according to Nielsen data. It also brought in 742,000 viewers in the key 25-to-54 age demographic. The debate received more than twice Hannity’s average ratings for November of 2.25 million and easily beat the competition on MSNBC and CNN, Mediaite reported.
By comparison, Trump’s town halls with Hannity in June and July brought in 2.8 million and 2.9 million viewers respectively. The June event attracted 320,000 viewers in the key demographic, less than half as much as the DeSantis-Newsom debate. Newsweek has contacted the Trump team for comment on Saturday.
CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA//Getty Images
Trump’s CNN town hall on May 10, hosted by Kaitlan Collins, got 3.31 million viewers and 781,000 demo viewers. However, Fox’s last five Trump town-hall events have delivered better audiences of 5.1 million, 4.4 million, 4.2 million, 3.8 million, and 3.5 million.
Thursday’s debate was billed as a Red State vs. Blue State showdown. Questions focused on comparisons between California and Florida on issues such as crime, the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness and gasoline prices.
The debate came amid a floundering primary campaign for DeSantis, who is far behind Trump, with fewer than seven weeks until Republican voters head to the Iowa caucuses.
DeSantis said that Newsom was seeking a shadow 2024 presidential run and that 81-year-old President Joe Biden will not seek a second term, calling on the Californian Democrat to “admit it, you’re running.”
In turn, Newsom both denied he intended to run in 2024 and mocked DeSantis over his struggling White House bid, saying, “we have one thing in common—neither of us will be the nominee for our party.”
Newsom defended Biden’s record on the economy, immigration and job numbers, although he faced criticism over how Democrats had handled the U.S.-Mexico border issue.
Another flashpoint between the governors was abortion, an issue that polls show is a political problem for the GOP, with Newsom calling DeSantis’s six-week termination ban “extreme.” This prompted the Republican to respond: “I believe in a culture of life. I think we’re better off when everybody counts.”
The performance of DeSantis was criticized by a newspaper in his home state. The Miami Herald‘s editorial board said he seemed like a “teacher’s pet”, despite being handed “softballs” from the moderator Hannity.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.