For several reasons next weeks Kamala Harris-Donald Trump debate could surpass the 84 million that watched the first 2016 debate between Trump & Hillary Clinton.
The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, scheduled for September 10, could be the most watched debate to date. ABC News will host the debate with David Muir and Linsey Davis as moderators. For Donald Trump this will be his seventh presidential debate (including last June’s debate with Joe Biden) more than any other candidate. For Kamala Harris it will be the first.
There are a number of reasons a record audience could happen. A renewed interest in the election with Kamala Harris replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. Historically, the first presidential debate is the most watched. The possibility this could be the only debate between Harris and Trump. Also, three of the four most watched debates involved Donald Trump. Furthermore, the opportunity to stream the debate on a number of platforms and devices (both measured and unmeasured). The lone 2020 vice- presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence is the second most watched debate to date.
In addition to C-Span, the audience excluded a number of streaming platforms on various devices that went unmeasured. After some calculations, in an interview NPR’s David Folkenflik had noted, “If you look at the live streams of seven different major outlets including places like Al-Jazeera, ABC News, NowThis news, The New York Times, Univision, Fox, a couple others — that was in excess of 35 million views. They’re not counted identically to a television viewer, but 35 million people watched at least part of the live streams of the debate that way.
