CNN Debate Drew Nearly 48 Million TV Viewers, Another 30+ Million Online

 Nearly 48 million people tuned in to watch the CNN presidential debate via television networks on Thursday night, while the event racked up more than 30 million additional viewers on YouTube and through digital modes.

The network indicated the debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden is apparently the most-watched program in the network’s history.

“The previous most-watched program in CNN’s history occurred in 2015, when a GOP debate featuring Trump and a slew of Republican rivals averaged 23.1 million viewers,” the outlet notes.

Television viewership, which was down from 73 million viewers during the first 2020 debate between the men, was led by the Fox News simulcast, which garnered the most viewers at 8.8 million. CNN and ABC News followed at 8.7 million apiece, while another 3.9 million tuned in on far-left MSNBC. These are just several of the 22 networks that simulcasted the debate.

CNN tied one of its records for concurrent live-stream viewers and racked up tens of millions of online views:

CNN said the event generated more than 30 million views on its digital properties and on YouTube. “Across CNN’s digital platforms, the debate was CNN’s biggest debate ever and tied with our biggest live stream event ever with 2.3 million concurrent live views at 9:47 p.m,” the network said.

Thursday marked one of the most seismic moments in the presidential race to date, considering Biden’s very shaky performance that immediately sparked panic on the left about the viability of his reelection bid.

Right after the contest ended, Democrat political pundits and commentators across networks and platforms began discussing potentially replacing Biden at the top of the Democrat ticket.

Sen. J.D Vance (R-OH) said Thursday night, soon after the chatter began, that “it would be a massive affront to American Democracy” if Democrats pulled Biden as their presumptive nominee.

“It would be a massive affront to American democracy for them to have effectively given Democratic primary voters one choice for the entire primary process, and then now that he’s had a disastrous debate performance, try to pull him. It’s impossible,” Vance said.