US elections: Swing state TV viewership surged for Trump-Harris debate

By Hannah Miller
 

The Kamala Harris-Donald Trump debate sparked big increases in TV viewership in seven states that are likely to decide the 2024 presidential election.
 

The Sept. 10 debate between Democrat Harris and Republican Trump drew an audience of 67.1 million viewers overall, up more than 30 per cent from Trump’s earlier face-off with Biden. The gain was even larger in the seven swing states, according to Nielsen data. 

Arizona and Wisconsin registered the biggest jumps in viewers at 41 per cent each. Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania also posted larger increases than the US average. The higher ratings suggest the debate may have more impact in those crucial states.

“Clearly, there’s something very interesting going on here,” said Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen’s senior vice president of product strategy, who put together the data.

Hosted by CNN, the first presidential debate took place in June between President Joe Biden and Trump, with Biden’s sluggish performance leading him to withdraw from the race. After Biden dropped out in July and endorsed Harris, she clinched the Democratic nomination. 

The Harris-Trump debate drew more viewers among all racial groups, with the biggest gains among Asian and Black audiences, according to Nielsen. The Hispanic audience climbed by 41 per cent, compared with 22 per cent for Whites.

Viewing increased across all county sizes although only the largest counties increased more than the total.

The second debate saw Harris and Trump spar over issues like abortion rights, immigration policy and the economy. Trump declared the contest his “best debate ever,” but complained that the ABC News moderators were biased against him, and he has said he won’t debate Harris again.

Major Democratic donors cheered the contest as a Harris victory and pop star Taylor Swift endorsed the vice president on social media shortly after the debate’s conclusion.  

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, and his Democratic rival, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are scheduled to meet in an Oct. 1 debate hosted by CBS News.