(RepublicanReport.org) – During the first Republican primary debate in August, Nielsen reported that 12.8 million viewers tuned in to find out where the candidates stood on the issues affecting the American public. Despite the absence of the party’s frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, more people watched Fox News that night, beating out other shows running during the same time. However, viewership has dropped significantly in subsequent debates, and some are pointing the finger of blame at the Republican National Committee (RNC) chair.
On November 9, Newsmax reported that only about six million people tuned in to watch the GOP’s third primary debate — a drop of nearly 50%. GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who was heavily criticized for his performance during the debate, blamed RNC chair Ronna McDaniel for the drop. Not only that, the businessman went further, stating she was to blame for all the Republican losses since she took over the position in 2017 and demanded she resign her post.
Ramaswamy took issue with who was hosting the debate and where it was airing. He said the third and upcoming fourth debates were handed to liberal media outlets. The candidate invited McDaniel up on stage during the debate to “look the GOP voters in the eye…[and] resign.” Afterward, others joined in to agree with Ramaswamy. Media contributor Monica Crowley posted on X, formerly Twitter, that McDaniel doesn’t do anything but lose, and social media maven Rogan O’Handley called on Trump to remove her as chair.
Days after the third debate, McDaniel said Ramaswamy was just “looking for headlines” because he only has 4% of the vote right now. According to USA Today, the RNC chair said the last time she checked, she “wasn’t running for president.” McDaniel said the GOP should band together to take “on Democrats, not each other.” She did not indicate any plans to step down.
Do you think the ratings would have been different if Trump participated?
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