Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax somehow managed to care even less about the fourth Republican presidential debate than it did the first three. There were a few preview articles, all of which were wire articles:
- Four Republicans Qualify for Fourth Presidential Debate
- Narrowing GOP Field Debates Just 6 Weeks Before Iowa Caucuses
- Fourth GOP Primary Debate Pits DeSantis v. Haley for No. 2 Spot
There were only a few articles on the content of the deabte itself:
- Insults Fly as Final GOP Debate Descends Into Chaos
- Nikki Haley's Momentum Makes Her a Target at Debate (wire article)
- Takeaways From Fourth Republican Presidential Debate (wire article)
Newsmax's original debate-related coverage was focused more on trashing the debate itself and touting the candidate who wasn't there (though it did let Ron DeSantis make a TV appearance to tout his "momentum" after the debate, which didn't age terribly well considering he'd drop out of the race a month or so later). Michael Katz did some creative math in a Dec. 7 article to bash the debate's ratings:
The fourth Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NewsNation on Wednesday suffered the worst ratings of all GOP debates this cycle, with the upstart network drawing only 1.6 million viewers.
The debate also aired on NewsNation's sister network CW, drawing an additional 2.5 million viewers, giving a total audience of 4.1 million, Nielsen reported.
Even with the combined number, the NewsNation debate had the lowest rating of any network hosting a GOP debate this year.
Just last month, the NBC-hosted Republican debate drew 7.5 million viewers. NewsNation also witnessed a huge drop of 68% in audience from Fox News' first GOP debate held in Milwaukee on Aug. 23. Fox drew 12.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Katz then took a couple shots at NewsNation itself:
The liberal NewsNation channel, formerly WGN America, has been struggling since its inception in 2021.
It drew just 60,000 viewers for a total day in 2023 — down 35% from last year — making it the lowest-rated cable news channel.
In fact, NewsNation is very much right-leaning, not "liberal."
A column by John Gizzi proclaimed Trump the debate's winner despite not bothereing to show up:
Wednesday's Republican presidential debate, the fourth of the year, was by far the best, a group of experts who spoke to Newsmax agreed.
The group said that each of the four candidates shined at different times in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, forum. But they also agreed that, as in the past three debates, former President Donald Trump was the winner simply by not being there.
A Dec. 9 article by Eric Mack let Trump bash the debate as well:
The lowest-rated GOP primary debate yet in "history" has left a trail of woe and losers, according to former President Donald Trump.
Trump mocked the low ratings of NewsNation and his primary challengers and even took a new shot at Megyn Kelly, who he temporarily suggested had come around.
"So many people are asking what I thought of history's lowest rated 'presidential' debate, & how would I rate the players," Trump wrote on Truth Social early Saturday morning. "It's so easy to be a critic, but who on this subject would be better than me."
Not only were the host and the moderators lowly rated in Trump's review, but the candidates were anything but worthy, he added.
When the Republican National Committee decided not to be invnolved in any further debates, a Dec. 9 article by Sandy Fitzgerald tried to frame it as beingdue to "dwindling ratings for the contests," not the more logical explanation that one candidate absolutely refused to participate, and that it was "giving broadcast rights to networks seen as hostile to former President Donald Trump, including Fox, NBC, and NewsNation," despite it being nonsensical to call Fox News "hostile" to Trump.
