Joe Biden's final MSNBC interview rating reportedly eclipsed by comedy reruns in key demographic

Not many people reportedly tuned in to watch the broadcast of Joe Biden's final interview on the last weekend of his term with MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell
PUBLISHED JAN 20, 2025
Joe Biden sat down with Lawrence O'Donnell for his final presidential interview on January 18, 2025 (Screengrab/MSNBC)
Joe Biden sat down with Lawrence O'Donnell for his final presidential interview on January 18, 2025 (Screengrab/MSNBC)

WASHINGTON, DC: Joe Biden sat down for his final interview as the President of the United States in the last weekend of his term with MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell.

However, not many people tuned in to watch the broadcast on Saturday, January 18, and it reportedly lost out in ratings in the major demographic of 25 to 54-year-olds to comedy shows and reruns on other networks, as per Fox News.

Some of the old comedy shows that pulled in more viewers in the age group of 25-54 than the Biden interview includes 'Seinfeld', 'Friends', and 'The Office', as well as animated shows such as 'Family Guy' and 'South Park'.



 

During the interview, the host congratulated Biden for a job well done as the outgoing POTUS. He claimed that the latter pulled off a "magic trick" by passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and combining "domestic and foreign policy" in his term at the White House.

Viewership of Lawrence O'Donnell's interview with Joe Biden

According to the outlet, Lawrence O'Donnell's interview with Joe Biden at the White House drew a total of 1.2 million viewers when it aired at 10 pm ET on MSNBC. Among them, only 97,000 were within the critical 25-54 age demographic.

At that same time, Fox News had a considerably large viewer share of 68%, among whom 71% were within the critical age group. MSNBC's viewership share stood at 23%, with the share of the audience between 25 - 54 being at 15%.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office while (from left to right) U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, and daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen Biden listen on at the White House on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden delivers a farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office while (from left to right) US Vice President Kamala Harris, US First Lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, and daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen Biden listen on at the White House on January 15, 2025, in Washington, DC (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

While Biden's interview was beaten in viewership ratings by multiple comedy shows, the rating of O'Donell himself has been declining in recent times with multiple age demographics.

From 2023 to 2024, 'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' lost 5% in ratings among total viewers, 6% with people between 25-54, and 12% with ages 18-49. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the figures stood at 41%, 45%, and 38%, respectively.

Internet mocks Joe Biden's interview for not attracting viewers

Netizens trolled Joe Biden's final presidential interview for failing to attract a large audience on network television. The following tweets demonstrate their takes.

"No one wants to hear all those lies, again!" wrote a user.



 

"Racking up a few more losses before fading into irrelevance," jibed another.



 

"Joe Biden.... already political history," quipped one.



 

"It kind of was a comedy rerun. With a dose of malice and hatred for America," chided someone else.



 

"Wise choice. Actually, kinda redundant," noted a user.



 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.

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