CNN’s latest Democratic debate once again posted low ratings despite the unfolding drama between two of the candidates involving independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, according to The Daily Caller.
Hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register, the network garnered just over 7 million viewers for Tuesday night’s debate, which is slightly more than last month’s debate, which drew just over 6 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
While Tuesday night’s debate slightly out-rated December’s debate, it still fell well short of previous Democratic and Republican primary debates. The first Democratic presidential debate last summer brought in 15 million viewers on MSNBC, the most ever in a Democratic primary debate. The record was topped in a debate hosted by ABC in September, which drew 18 million viewers on its second night.
The most watched primary debate in U.S. history remains the first Republican debate of the 2016 election cycle, which drew 24 million viewers on Fox News.
Ahead of the debate, reports suggested that Sanders told Warren that a woman could not win the presidency. Warren later confirmed the report in a statement from her campaign.
During the debate, Sanders denied making the charge.
“How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States?” Sanders remarked during the debate.
The CNN moderators ignored Sanders’s denial and questioned Warren as if the exchange actually happened as Warren had described it.