Trump ditched a massive national debate audience for a smaller Q&A on NBC. With just 19 days until the election, that might be a mistake.
- President Donald Trump dropped out of the second presidential debate after it was switched from in-person to virtual following his positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
- Instead, Trump will appear at a town hall hosted by NBC at the same time as Democratic nominee Joe Biden's on ABC News.
- The second presidential debate in 2016 was seen by 66.5 million viewers. Trump's town hall in September drew just 3.8 million viewers.
- With less than three weeks to go until the Presidential Election, the Trump campaign's decision may turn out to be a mistake as he needs to appeal to as large of an audience as possible.
President Donald Trump's town hall on ABC in mid-September drew 3.8 million viewers. Among all American television shows that aired that night, the Trump town hall placed third behind new episodes of "Big Brother" and "America's Got Talent."
With less than three weeks until the November election, Trump trails Biden by 10.5 percentage points, according to an average of national polls from FiveThirtyEight.
The president dropped out of the second presidential debate after it was switched from in-person to virtual following his positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
Instead of a second debate between the two main presidential candidates, Trump will now attend a a solo town hall event in Miami scheduled to be broadcast at the same time on NBC as Democratic nominee Joe Biden's on ABC News.
Trump may be a television mogul, but his decision to drop out of the second presidential debate for a town hall is misguided and may backfire.
The first presidential debate between Trump and Biden brought in over 73 million viewers and his second debate in 2016 against Hillary Clinton was seen by 66.5 million people.
Trump must win over undecided voters if he wants to come out successful in November. That goal harder to achieve when you by split up a massive audience filled with potential new and undecided voters.
According to Nielsen, Biden's town hall in September drew in 3.3 million viewers. His second town hall in Miami just a month later brought in 6.7 million viewers and was seen by 718,000 in the coveted 25 to 54-year-old demographic. Nielsen ratings do not take into account video streaming numbers, so Biden's viewership was likely even higher.
By splitting the second presidential debate into two competing events at the same time, Trump is choosing an audience of likely less than 10 million over one that would probably bring 65 million or more.
His window to bounce back in the polls and assuage undecided voters is closing, and fast.
Sources familiar with the president's 2020 strategy told Insider's Tom LoBianco that funds are tight in the Trump campaign after former campaign manager Brad Parscale's financial missteps, which involved booking $200 million in ads without a clear way to pay for them. A debate hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates would be free publicity for the Trump campaign to an expansive audience in Trump's greatest time of need.
As of October 14, over 14 million people have already cast their votes through mail-in and early voting in an election expected to receive the most mailed votes than any other in US history. At this point in 2016, about a month away from the election, only 430,000 mail-in votes had been cast. According to voting rights experts, voting by mail is expected to make up 50% to 70% of the total vote in November.
When it comes to television, Trump is an expert — he reportedly watches seven hours of cable television every morning — but his decision to drop out of one of the highest-rated events of the year may prove to be a fatal misstep for his campaign and one that he can't afford this late in the race.