Ratings for chaotic Trump-Biden presidential debate nosedive from 2016

The chaotic first presidential debate between Joe Biden and President Trump officially tanked, pulling in dismal TV ratings compared to the blockbuster showdown between Trump and Hillary Clinton four years ago.

Networks ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX averaged 27.3 million viewers during the 90-minute-plus slugfest, according to Deadline, a stunning 36 percent plunge from the face-to-face brawl between then-candidate Donald Trump and Clinton in 2016.

Those numbers are likely to increase when cable networks CNN and MSNBC report their audience totals, but according to Deadline, Tuesday’s debate is unlikely to match the record 84 million who tuned in to watch the first Trump-Clinton debate.

The first 2020 presidential match-up between the two septuagenarians in Cleveland frequently descended into an incoherent shouting match as the candidates talked over each other and Fox News moderator Chris Wallace failed to maintain order.

This year’s presidential election has, of course, been muted by the coronavirus pandemic, with Tuesday’s scaled-back affair taking place in front of a small, socially distanced audience to avoid infection.

Guests were told not to clap or react to the exchanges, and Trump and Biden stayed six feet apart — a far cry from the 2016 event, where Trump infamously stalked Clinton around the debate stage.

Still, the debate earned horrible reviews, with pundits on both sides of the aisle criticizing Trump and Biden’s performances and Wallace’s missing-in-action moderation.