With the former president again skipping the debate, how much interest would there be in hearing out a collection of non-Trump candidates?
That’s a steep drop from the first debate, which was also held without Trump and attracted about 12.8 million viewers.
It also represents — by a significant margin — the lowest TV audience for any Republican presidential debate since the start of the 2016 cycle, when Trump first became a candidate.
Below is a chart of estimated viewerships for all GOP debates since the 2016 cycle.
By contrast, the decline between the first and second debates of the 2016 cycle — both of which featured Trump — was just 4%.
Persons:
Donald Trump, Trump, Trump —
Organizations:
Republican, Trump, Nielsen, Trump -, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Univision, GOP, Fox News