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ABC’s “World News Host” anchor David Muir experienced a major ratings drop following his controversial role as a moderator during the recent presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump.
Muir and fellow ABC anchor Linsey Davis repeatedly fact-checked Trump despite not calling out Harris over multiple issues.
Before the debate, “World News Tonight” averaged 7.6 million viewers. The three programs after the debate averaged 6.7 million viewers, a 12 percent drop overall.
Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to blast the network’s biased coverage.
“ABC FAKE NEWS has been completely discredited, and is now under investigation. Did they give Comrade Kamala the questions? It was 3 on 1, but they were mentally challenged people, against one person of extraordinary genius. It wasn’t even close, as is now reflected in the polls. I WON THE DEBATE!” Trump wrote.
“‘ABC NEWS SPENT DEBATE ATTEMPTING TO DISCREDIT TRUMP’ — THEY FAILED!” Trump wrote in a related post that included a report on the debate from Newsmax.
Over 67 million viewers watched the ABC News presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, according to Nielson ratings. The total surpassed the viewer totals of Trump’s debate with President Joe Biden, revealing strong interest in the recent matchup.
The Nielson ratings noted 67.1 million viewers across 17 networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, Fox and CNN, according to The New York Post. The Trump and Biden debate reached 51.3 million viewers.
Trump later complained about taking on three opponents during the debate, calling out the bias of ABC’s moderators.
“People are just starting to give me credit for having a GREAT DEBATE. The Voters and Voter Polls showed it, but the Fake News Media wasn’t giving the credit that was due. Now they are seeing the results with independent Voters, Evangelicals, and more – and saying, WOW!” Trump posted to his Truth Social account late Wednesday.
“Remember, I wasn’t debating one person, I was debating three. They should fire everybody at ABC Fake News, whose two lightweight ‘anchors’ have brought disgrace onto the company!” he added.