(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
OAN’s Daniel Baldwin
6:39 AM – Friday, August 25, 2023
45th President Donald Trump’s interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has attracted more than 250 million views 36 hours after airing. Comparatively, Fox News’ first Republican presidential primary debate only drew 12.8 million total viewers Wednesday.
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The former president celebrated the apparent success of the interview Thursday before flying to Atlanta, Georgia to be arrested.
“231,000,000 Views, and still counting,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Biggest Video on Social Media, EVER, more than double the Super Bowl!”
Fox announced the debate drew 2.8 million viewers from the 25-54 age demographic, but failed to compete with the ratings of the 2016 presidential primary debates.
For instance, the first Republican presidential primary debate in 2015 drew in a total of 24 million views for Fox News, nearly double of this week’s debate. In addition, 7.9 million of those views were in the 25-54 age demographic.
Many pundits have pointed to Trump’s absence as a reason for the drop in ratings.
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake told One America News in the lead up to the debate this week that Trump’s decision to skip was the latest example of the demise of traditional cable news.
“I know so many people who tell me, ‘I don’t watch any of the fake news anymore. I don’t watch the cable news networks anymore,’” Lake said. “And number one, they’re happier. And guess what? They’re also more well-informed, because they’re finding outlets like OAN, Epoch Times, Just The News. They’re finding these outlets where the journalism is actually true. It’s sourced.”
Lake also pointed to the success Carlson has seen since launching his new show, “Tucker on X.”
“[Carlson’s] numbers are so much bigger on Twitter and putting out information and doing interviews that the bosses at Fox News would’ve never let him do,” she said. “Now that he’s freed from the shackles of the fake news and can actually be a journalist.”
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