'Scripted and coached': Joe Biden trolled as his interview with ABC News tops Friday night ratings with 8.5M viewers
WASHINGTON, DC: ABC News interview with President Joe Biden secured the top spot in its timeslot among key demographics on Friday, July 5, attracting the highest viewership with 8.5 million viewers according to the fast overnight national ratings.
The preliminary figures also indicated ABC's lead in both the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups, with the 18-49 segment slightly surpassing Fox's 'WWE Friday Night SmackDown'.
Joe Biden's interview with ABC News became most-viewed non-election/debate program since 2018
The special broadcast, featuring anchor George Stephanopoulos interviewing Biden amidst growing concerns about his mental sharpness and viability as the Democratic Party's nominee, also became the most-viewed ABC News primetime non-election/debate program since Stephanopoulos' 2018 interview with ex-FBI director James Comey.
In the initial fast affiliate viewership figures, ABC's one-on-one with Biden outperformed the close competition between CBS's 'Lingo' and Fox's 'WWE Friday Night SmackDown', with 'Lingo' attracting 2.1 million viewers and 'SmackDown' garnering 2 million, The Wrap reported.
Meanwhile, a rerun of "Night Court" on NBC trailed with 1.2 million viewers.
The preliminary affiliate ratings, which measure live and same-day viewing, indicated that the interview achieved a 0.58 rating among adults aged 18-49, compared to 'SmackDown's' 0.55, 'Lingo's' 0.18, and 'Night Court's' 0.12.
In the 25-54 demographic, ABC achieved a higher rating of 0.91, with 'SmackDown' coming in second at 0.72, followed by 'Lingo' at 0.26, and 'Night Court' at 0.19.
President Biden's interview received a predominantly negative reaction, with voters and commentators appearing unconvinced after his challenging debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Additionally, the president mentioned that he had not undergone a neurological examination and refused to consent to one conducted by an independent doctor.
ABC's most-watched interview with Joe Biden sparked reactions on social media
Upon discovering that ABC's interview with Biden was the most watched, netizens began sharing their reactions on Reddit.
One said, "They needed to air it live and unedited. That interview was scripted and coached otherwise in the minds of many viewers. Let's see him do another debate and do better."
Another user added, "Everyone watching the interview expecting to see him blanking or saying gibberish, that's why."
The third commentator wrote, "That's not a lot of views. BTW what's the verdict on it? No one I know said anything one way or another did it save him?"
"That’s pretty much worst-case. He did good enough to convince himself and his inner circle that he can stay in the race, but not good enough to actually undo the damage from the debate," a Redditor remarked.
A person said, "He made a fool of himself again. It was horrible."
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.
