Fox News host Dana Perino, one of the moderators for the upcoming Republican presidential debate, tells Deadline that former President Donald Trump has been critical of the debates, claiming that his absence led to low viewership.

However, the first debate had a higher-than-expected viewership of 12.8 million, and Perino suggests that this reflects a willingness among voters to explore alternative candidates.

Perino’s statement implies that viewers are engaged and concerned about the direction of the country, and they are actively seeking information about the candidates and their policies. It will be interesting to see how the second debate’s viewership compares to the first and whether it can maintain or exceed the previous numbers.

Donald Trump has criticized the idea of another Republican presidential debate, claiming that his absence resulted in low viewership. However, the upcoming second debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Fox Business and Univision will be closely watched to see if it can match last month’s higher-than-expected viewership of 12.8 million. 

Dana Perino, who is moderating the debate with Stuart Varney and Univision’s Ilia Calderón, suggests that the strong viewership from the previous debate indicates a willingness among voters to consider alternative candidates.

“I think there are people who are open-minded, and they’re paying a lot of attention, and they care about the direction of this country, and they’re worried about it,” Perino told Deadline.

Seven candidates qualified for the debate: Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott.

According to reports, Trump is planning to deliver a speech in Detroit to union members as the United Auto Workers continue their strike. This is seen as a counter-programming move, similar to the one he made last month when he appeared in an interview with Tucker Carlson on X/Twitter, as Fox News was presenting the first hour of the Milwaukee debate. It was a clear jab at Fox, which Trump frequently criticizes.

During a speech on Monday, he falsely claimed that “the last debate was the lowest-rated debate in history. That’s a good compliment, isn’t it?”

Perino has stated that she did not have any conversation with former President Trump or his team regarding his participation in the debate. This is in contrast to the first debate, where co-moderator Bret Baier had disclosed that he had spoken to the former president about it, and Fox executives had also met with him to discuss his involvement.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper came to the network’s defense during an interview with Howard Stern. The radio host noted that news outlets such as CNN are obsessed with former President Donald Trump.

“It seems to me that Trump not only has changed our world but he’s changed the entire news business,” Stern said. 

“It’s almost like we’re so addicted to hearing about him that if you don’t do a Trump story on your show, people aren’t that interested. You just want to hear, ‘Is Trump in trouble?’ It’s like an obsession throughout the country.”

Cooper pushed back at Stern’s claim, stating that CNN has focused on various other news stories and not on anything Trump-related, despite the former commander-in-chief announcing his bid for president in 2024 last year. 

“I would argue in the last, you know, couple of years when he wasn’t running for president, he wasn’t the focus [at CNN],” Cooper told Stern.  

“We weren’t covering him as much, if at all, once he left office. And frankly, our Ukraine war coverage, I mean, I left, you know after my second son was born, I left a week later to go to Ukraine for, you know, I don’t know, two or three weeks or something.”

David Muir will have a new co-anchor for 20/20 as ABC News announced that Deborah Roberts has been promoted to the more permanent co-anchor position.

“Deborah has been reporting for 20/20 since 1995, covering everything from profiles of political figures to the most shocking crime cases gripping the nation,” ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a press release. 

“She is a skilled investigative journalist, oftentimes trekking across the country to conduct hard-hitting interviews providing viewers with relevant, insightful information. Deborah is an empathetic reporter, bringing humanity to every story. 

Roberts permanently takes over for Amy Robach, who was let go due to a public romantic relationship with T.J. Holmes. Roberts will continue as senior national affairs correspondent for the network while also taking on a new role at 20/20.

Since 1995, Roberts has reported on 20/20 and earned Emmys for her coverage of international and national world events.