UPDATE: Viewership for the Democratic National Convention increased slightly on the second night, averaging 20.6 million viewers on Tuesday after reaching 20 million on Monday.
As in the previous evening, Nielsen’s measurement includes the following channels: ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, CNN, CNNe, FOX Business, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS.
Tuesday’s coverage included speeches by Barack and Michelle Obama. During the former president’s address, viewership rose above the evening’s average, reaching 21.6 million, according to Nielsen.
“We don’t need four more years of bluster and stumbling and chaos. We’ve seen this movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse,” he said, referring to Trump’s first term as president and his current attempt to return to office. As the crowd began booing Trump, he repeated a phrase made famous from his speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2016, when Trump first ran against Hillary Clinton: “Don’t boo. Vote.”
In her speech, the former First Lady referred to the presidency as a “black job,” alluding to a remark Trump made earlier this summer during the debate against Joe Biden.
“His limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happened to be black,” she said. “Wait, I want to know – who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for right now might be one of those ‘black jobs’?”
PREVIOUSLY: According to Nielsen, 20 million viewers watched the Democratic Party Convention on various channels on Monday.
That puts the first night of the DNC above the first three nights of the Republican National Convention last month, which drew 18.1 million, 14.8 million, and 18 million viewers, respectively. The final night of the RNC, which featured Donald Trump’s speech, averaged 25.4 million viewers and peaked at 28.4 million.
Nielsen’s estimate takes into account coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Univision, CNN, CNNe, FOX Business, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS.
This year’s convention will take place in Chicago. On the first evening, President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton will give speeches.
Biden, who was running for re-election before dropping out of the race in July, pledged to be the “best volunteer” for Vice President Kamala Harris. He commented on his own campaign and presidency with a quote from the song “American Anthem,” which he also referenced in his 2021 inaugural address. “Let me know in my heart when my days are done,” he said. “America, America, I have given you my best.”
Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, sharply criticized the former president in her speech: “Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial. When he woke up, he made history in his own way: he was the first presidential candidate with 34 capital crimes convictions.” Of Harris, she said: “She will never write love letters to dictators. No matter what the polls say, we must not let up. We must not let ourselves be driven into crazy conspiracy theories. We must fight for the truth. We must fight for Kamala, just as she will fight for us. You know what? It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country and win a campaign.”
