VP Debate, Fox News Score Big Rating for Pence-Harris VP Debate

Wednesday’s vice presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence drew 50.5 million, per Nielsen Media Research.

Fox News led all broadcast and cable channels with 11.3 million viewers. In addition, Fox News won the 25-54 demographic at 2.9 million. ABC’s 9.4 led its broadcast competitors.

Here is the full ranking between 9:00 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. ET:

1. Fox News: 11,315,000
2. ABC: 9,405,000
3. CNN: 7,310,000
4. MSNBC: 6,674,000
5. NBC: 6,550,000
6. CBS: 5,108,000
7. FOX 4,109,000

2020 VP debate toppled the Pence-Tim Kaine showdown in 2016, which earned 35.6 million viewers. 

By contrast, the presidential debate was down significantly from 2016’s record-breaking night. Based on my estimates, Trump-Biden trailed Trump-Clinton 84 million to 73 million.

Last night likely didn’t change anyone’s vote. Nor did the Trump-Biden chaos a week before. The VP debate wasn’t without its moments, though. 

Harris refused to answer whether Biden plans to pack the supreme court. With large leads in the national polls and advantages in key battleground states, Biden and Harris are uninterested in discussing court-packing, which is only supported by 32% of U.S. adults.  

At this point, Harris and Biden’s non-answers are answers.

Follow Bobby Burack on Twitter @burackbobby_.