OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Americans were not that into the prime-time hearings held last month by the Jan. 6 Committee in June but appear to be even less so now, according to the latest viewership estimates.
Deadline reported that the committee’s primetime hearings on Thursday were off 11 percent from last month when some 20 million tuned in.
That resulted in viewership of around 17.7 percent, the outlet reported, adding:
Nielsen said that each of the eight hearings averaged 13.1 million, while the two primetime hearings averaged 18.9 million. The daytime hearings averaged 11.2 million.
Those are solid albeit not blockbuster numbers. The committee’s hearings, though, have commanded news cycles, and moments have gone viral on social media.
The highest viewed daytime hearing was on June 28, drawing 13.2 million. That was the hearing featuring the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, the former aide to chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Sarah Matthews, former deputy press secretary, and Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, testified on Thursday. The committee’s focus was on alleged inaction by then-President Donald Trump as the riot at the Capitol unfolded.
Thursday’s hearing was considered as a sort of “season finale.” But many expect that prime-time hearings will return just ahead of the November midterm elections, which are not looking good for Democrats President Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to tank amid record-high inflation spurred on by skyrocketing gasoline, diesel fuel, and food prices.
While some have claimed that last month’s hearings were well-received, in fact, others say that the viewership was dismal. Just the News reported:
By contrast, President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in March pulled in 38 million viewers. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union attracted over 45 million, per the New York Post.
The 20 million figure did stand above a typical congressional hearing, The Hill noted, citing the roughly 9 million viewers for Trump’s first impeachment trial.
But considering that it was on virtually every network and in primetime those numbers are disappointing.
“[Democrats] are doubling down looking for any desperate attempt to try to change the narrative. But look, the American people are smart. They see through this, they want a Congress that’s focused on the issues that matter to them,” House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York said last month ahead of the first hearing.
“We’re working very closely with President Trump and his team with Leader Kevin McCarthy, with Jim Jordan, and really all of the House Republicans will be pushing back in a rapid response fashion,” Stefanik said, going on to give a preview of what to expect from the party in response.
“You will see us all over the airwaves, we will be setting the record straight. We will be telling the truth to the American people sharing the facts and also really pointing out how unprecedented and unconstitutional and illegitimate this committee is,” Stefanik continued.
She went on to say that GOP members already have “lots of media bookings already set,” while predicting that members are “going to shine in this moment.”
“But similar to impeachment sham one and really impeachment sham two, just out there every single day. Number one, talking about issues that matter to the American people,” she said. “But number two, prosecuting the case against how much Speaker Pelosi, Democrats, and Liz Cheney have failed this country, and they’ve failed to focus on the issue. If they want to talk about securing the Capitol, which they refused to, they have failed to do that job,” Stefanik said, adding that they have instead continued to “shred constitutional precedents.
“They have shred Congress as an institution, and they are invading on the privacy and really the speech and debate rights of all these elected members of Congress,” she said. “And they’re targeting everyday citizens, young staffers who worked on the Trump campaign.”
“It’s outrageous. These legal bills for these staffers are bankrupting these young families. So we’ll be out there leading every single day,” she pledged.
“The left is vicious,” she added, going on to comment on how she thinks all of this will end for Democrats.
