Sara Fischer: 24M+ people watched Biden NATO presser

July 12, 2024

Source: AXIOS

Written by: Sara Fischer

This piece is by WWSG exclusive thought leader, Sara Fischer.

Around 24.2 million people watched President Biden’s press conference during the NATO Summit Thursday, nearly half the number (51.3 million) that tuned into his disastrous debate performance two weeks prior.

Why it matters: Like the debate, the vast majority (19.1 million) of speech viewers that tuned in on live TV were over 55 years old, according to figures from Nielsen.

That means younger Americans who get news on social media likely didn’t catch Biden’s full responses to complex policy questions but instead mostly caught viral clips of his gaffes.

By the numbers: Many broadcast and cable networks aired the speech. Below is a viewership breakdown between the hours of 7:30pm and 8:30pm ET Thursday.

Fox News: 5.6 million
ABC: 4.9 million
CBS: 3.6 million
NBC: 3.5 million
MSNBC: 2.5 million
CNN: 2.2 million

The big picture: Biden’s speech is part of a broader strategy to make himself more visible to Americans following the debate.

On Thursday, he sat down with NBC News’ Lester Holt for an interview. Last Friday, 8.5 million people watched Biden’s first post-debate interview on ABC with George Stephanopoulos.

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