Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   Trump-Carlson on X vs GOP Debate Date:   8/24/2023 9:10:43 AM

Intersting numbers.  24M watched the 2 hour debate on Fox which is a pretty good number and indicates there are a lot of Republicans that want to learn more about the other candidates.  However, 175M have viewed Carlson's 46-minute  interview of Trump on X so far!

Setting aside the "going to the race to see the wrecks" aspect of the Trump interview, if I were in the cable or network news business this would scare the crap out of me.  I think I am starting to understand why Musk bought X (nee Twitter).  He is going to use it to replace the way we get our news.  I also expect Fox to sue Carlson and X any day now.  I cannot imagine they are going to sit by ildly letting X take over the news business.  And if I were a popular host like Carlson was I would seriously consider switching to X when my contract is up.

As for the debate itself, unfortunately I don't think anyone moved the needle one way or the other.  I did enjoy Chris Christie gettng booed.  None of them have a chance against Trump, not even DeSantis who certainly has a stellar record to run on.  I will still vote for him in the primary but I suspect it will be for naught.