WASHINGTON — The surprise winner of the dueling presidential town halls Wednesday night on CNN and MSNBC was Fox News.
Viewers faced a choice between Donald Trump on MSNBC being interviewed by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, or Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz questioned in separate consecutive forums by Anderson Cooper on CNN.
Fox News beat the two networks’ 8 p.m. events with its regular programming, drawing 2.3 million viewers as Eric Bolling filled in as substitute host for Bill O’Reilly on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
CNN grabbed 2.05 million viewers for its Greenville, SC, event while MSNBC raked in 1.4 million for its Trump interview in Charleston.
Cooper usually lures about 700,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.
Even as it beat its rivals, Fox’s ratings dipped below the norm. O’Reilly typically pulls more than 3 million viewers.