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The Thursday debate between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Fox Information — the speak of the political world this previous week — delivered a good bump within the channel’s rankings.
Billed because the “The Nice Purple State vs. Blue State Debate,” the occasion moderated by Fox Information host Sean Hannity averaged 4.75 million viewers, in response to Nielsen information.
The quantity was greater than double the November common for “Hannity,” which was 2.3 million viewers, as the controversy pulled in individuals who don’t usually watch his nightly diatribes in opposition to liberals and the Biden administration. The determine additionally accounted for 73% of the viewers watching cable information within the 9 p.m time slot.
The occasion confronted stiff competitors, up in opposition to a detailed, high-scoring “Thursday Evening Soccer” contest between the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks streaming on Amazon, and the finale of “The Golden Bachelor” on ABC, the most-watched TV program of the night time.
The extremely anticipated match-up staged in a suburb exterior Atlanta was uncommon for TV information, with DeSantis, a contender for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, dealing with off in opposition to a sitting governor who has repeatedly acknowledged he’s not operating for nationwide workplace.
Newsom, a number one surrogate for the Democratic get together, was additionally coming into an area the place the moderator, Hannity, was clearly aligned politically with DeSantis.
Regardless of the efforts of Hannity to maintain order — he pleaded on and off the air with each individuals to not speak over one another — the 90-minute occasion turned chaotic at occasions, making it troublesome for viewers to grasp both of them.
The questions supplied up by the conservative host had been principally constructed round unfavorable comparisons of California to Florida on points akin to crime, dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness and gasoline costs, and put Newsom on the protection for a lot of the night.
However Newsom entered the showdown with nothing to lose, as he’s insistent he is not going to be Democratic candidate for president in 2024, regardless of chatter in right-wing circles. He largely used his time to defend the efficiency of President Biden’s administration whereas getting publicity in entrance of a nationwide viewers that won’t have been acquainted with him.
When Hannity served up a query stating emphatically that Biden was in cognitive decline, Newsom shot again that he’ll “take Joe Biden at 100 versus Ron DeSantis any day of the week at any age.”
DeSantis wanted the occasion to ignite his flagging presidential marketing campaign, as he badly trails former President Trump in polls and has fallen behind former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in some major states.
DeSantis used props in his presentation, together with a really brown map that depicted the quantity of human fecal matter on the streets of San Francisco, the place Newsom was as soon as mayor.
Fox Information used clips of the controversy on its Friday opinion applications, touting it as a win for DeSantis, who so far has did not catch hearth with the community’s viewers.
“This was a victory of conservatism over liberalism,” stated Kaleigh McEnany, the previous Trump White Home press secretary who’s now a co-host of the Fox Information daytime present “Outnumbered.”
However McEnany stated Newsom, whom she described as “sharp,” can’t be written off as a political competitor.
“Be careful for him, as a result of he’s coming if not in ‘24, in ‘28,” she stated.
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