Did Fox News just subtweet @RealDonaldTrump on #SOTU viewership?; UPDATE: White House clarifies

Greg P. | 8:43 AM on February 01, 2018

Editor’s note: This post has been updated.

Update:

The White House clarified President Trump’s tweet earlier claiming viewership of his SOTU speech was the “highest number in history”:

A White House source said the president “was referring to highest in cable news history, which is why he specifically mentioned Fox News” https://t.co/zH5hQzQ1Yh

— Variety (@Variety) February 1, 2018

Original:

President Trump is back on Twitter after a brief hiatus following Tuesday night’s State of the Union and talking about the Nielsen ratings for the speech:

Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2018

Now we don’t know exactly what information he’s using to claim “the highest number in history” — maybe including streaming online? — but if you go by Nielsen ratings numbers alone, it’s not accurate:

Nielsen: It's, er, NOT the highest rated #SOTU in history. It's not #2, or #3, or even #5.
But it IS the highest rated since 2010.https://t.co/FyiU5izXSQ https://t.co/Vzj35end29

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) February 1, 2018

And about 30 minutes after the president praised Fox News in that tweet, the @FoxNewResearch account posted the Nielsen numbers as well, contradicting Trump:

#SOTU TV Viewers:
2018: 45.6M
2017: 47.7M*
2016: 31.3M
2015: 31.7M
2014: 33.3M
2013: 33.5M
2012: 37.8M
2011: 42.8M
2010: 48.0M
2009: 52.4M*
2008: 37.5M
2007: 45.5M
2006: 41.7M
2005: 38.4M
2004: 43.4M
2003: 62.1M
1993: 66.9M* (largest TV audience)

*Not an official SOTU pic.twitter.com/OZlUHmGQp4

— Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) February 1, 2018