Impeachment TV ratings rebound despite Donald Trump’s ‘death valley’ complaint
- Around 10.1 million people in US tuned in as president’s lawyers began arguing his case
- Brushing aside Bolton bombshell, Trump team calls for quick acquittal, saying ‘it is time for this to end’
Television viewership for the third presidential impeachment trial in US history rose as President Donald Trump’s lawyers began laying out their case for his acquittal by the Senate, according to Nielsen data released on Tuesday.
An estimated 10.1 million people in the United States tuned in across six broadcast and cable networks on Saturday, the day Trump’s legal team began arguing he had not committed any impeachable offences in his dealings with Ukraine.
The television audience for the trial, which began on January 21, had been steadily shrinking. Ratings peaked at about 11 million viewers who watched lawmakers spar over evidence and witnesses on opening day. They fell to 6.8 million last Friday as Democrats wrapped up their arguments against Trump, according to Nielsen.
The ratings do not include people who watched live coverage via online streaming or followed it via social media.
Trump, a former reality television star, complained on Twitter last week that his lawyers were being “forced to start on Saturday, which is called Death Valley in TV” for its typically small audiences.