Harris-Trump debate watched by 67m people, beating pivotal Biden showdown

Debate was watched by nearly 16 million more people than June event that saw Biden drop out, with a marked rise in younger and middle-aged viewers, ratings show

An estimated 67.1 million people watched the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, a 31% increase from the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden that eventually led to the president dropping out of the 2024 race.

The debate was run by ABC News but shown on 17 different networks, the Nielsen company said. The Trump-Biden debate in June was seen by 51.3 million people.

Tuesday's count was short of the record viewership for a presidential debate, when 84 million people saw Trump's and Hillary Clinton's first face-off in 2016. The first debate between Biden and Trump in 2020 reached 73.1 million people.

There was a marked increase in younger and middle-aged viewers, with 53% more adults aged 18-49 tuning in to see Harris debate Trump than watched Biden do the same, according to Nielsen data.