“<i>GOP failing with viewers as well as voters</i>” would be how a dishonest former media columnist would characterize the ratings plummet from the first 2016 GOP presidential debate to its 2024 descendent. Per CBS News, Wednesday night’s program shown exclusively on Fox drew 12.8 million across all platforms, about half the audience that tuned in to the first GOP debate in 2016. [There were no GOP debates in 2012.]. During the 2020 cycle, Democratic debates averages about 11 million viewers.