Last night’s second Democratic debate on CNN, which was marked by a protestor interruption and featured a rematch between California Sen. Kamala Harris and Former Vice President Joe Biden, topped the first in total viewership.
With 10.7 million, Wednesday night’s affair was up 24% on the first.
Wednesday’s debate was down 43% on NBC’s first debate which aired to 15.3 million viewers on June 26. However, it’s worth noting that both NBC debates also aired on MSNBC and Telemundo. The second NBC debate on June 27 was watched by nearly 18.1 million viewers.
None of the debates so far in this cycle have come near to the 24 million figure posted by Donald Trump’s first debate on Fox News in August of 2015. However, the feisty affair on June 27 was the most-watched Democratic primary debate in history, easily topping the first Democratic debate of the 2016 cycle, which stood at 15.7 million viewers on CNN.
The second debate featured 10 candidates: Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former Vice President Joe Biden, former housing and urban development secretary Julian Castro, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and businessman Andrew Yang.
Both debates were moderated by the trio of Don Lemon, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.