WATCH: The kick-off to the 2016 Republican race to the White House drew a stunning 24 million total viewers in the U.S. – three times the audience for any previous primary debate. It’s largely due to one larger-than-life candidate who, critics say, is sucking all the oxygen out of the Republican race. However, Donald Trump didn’t get an easy ride. Jackson Proskow reports.
NEW YORK – An estimated 24 million people watched Fox News Channel’s prime-time debate with the top 10 Republican presidential candidates, the highest-rated broadcast in the network’s history.
The Nielsen company said Thursday’s debate ratings more than doubled Fox News’ best ratings in the past, for election night 2012. A debate with seven lower-polling candidates earlier Thursday had 6.1 million viewers.
READ MORE: Trump drags Rosie O’Donnell into debate, calls Megyn Kelly a ‘bimbo’
The debate turned into a slugfest with front-runner Donald Trump in particular feeling the heat. He tweeted out criticism of the network’s three moderators as “not very good or professional” and retweeted a message from a supporter who called the network’s Megyn Kelly a “bimbo.”
WATCH: The ten top-polling Republican Presidential candidates participated in the first GOP-sanctioned debate. It was a still a crowded field, but one candidate in particular managed to steal the spotlight – again. Craig Boswell reports.
Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes defended his moderators, calling it “the best political debate team ever put on television.”
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