The second Republican presidential primary debate was a huge disappointment, data shows — both in terms of viewers, and in candidate performances.
Without former President Donald Trump, Wednesday’s event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library drew only 9.5 million viewers combined across Fox News, Univision, and the other Fox platforms.
13 million watched the first primary debate on August 23, which means Wednesday had a 27 percent decrease in viewers.
Not only was it a ratings bust, but initial polling data shows little change for potential Republican Party primary voters.
According to a report from The Washington Post —
Nearly 1 in 3 potential Republican primary voters watched the debate Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, but the performance of the candidates had little impact on the overall race, according to a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll taken after the debate.
Thirty-three percent say Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had the best performance, while 18 percent say the same for former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and 15 percent for entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. But this is not a slam dunk for DeSantis, as most of those who say he performed best already had a favorable opinion of him, according to our survey before the debate.
Asked whose performance was the worst, 24 percent say former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, 20 percent name former vice president Mike Pence, 11 percent name North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and 10 percent pick Ramaswamy.
The third Republican presidential debate will be held in Miami on Nov. 8, a day after several states hold off-year elections, and candidates will be facing the most stringent requirements yet to take part.
Participating candidates must secure 4% of the vote in multiple polls and 70,000 unique donors to earn a spot on the stage, the Republican National Committee said Friday. There is no word yet on who will moderate the debate.
The requirements for the third debate will be more challenging to meet than the second. For the second debate, candidates needed 3% in two national polls or 3% in one national poll as well as two polls from four of the early-voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, according to the RNC. The White House hopefuls must also have at least 50,000 unique donors.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article