President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress pulled in far fewer viewers than former President Obama’s speech in 2009.
Trump’s Tuesday night speech drew in a little more than 43 million viewers, a sharp drop from Obama’s speech in 2009, according to Nielsen ratings.
Obama averaged 52.4 million viewers during his first address to the joint Congress as the U.S. was struggling under the recession— about 17% more than what Trump received on Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ratings for Obama’s speeches peaked during his 2009 address — the former president’s following addresses never reached such a high number.
Of the broadcast and cable news networks, Fox News was the most-watched channel on TV for the speech, drawing in 10.8 million viewers. NBC, with 9.1 million, came in second.