Trump-friendly Fox News also lost out on Election Night.
In a rare occurrence, left-leaning MSNBC overtook Fox in primetime total viewers during election coverage on Tuesday, according to Nielsen Fast National ratings.
First reported by Puck journalist Dylan Byers, preliminary numbers show MSNBC drew 2.92 million primetime viewers—comfortably surpassing Fox News’ 2.75 million.
Both MSNBC and Fox outperformed CNN, which averaged 1.68 million viewers, the ratings show.
MSNBC Vice President Jesse Rodriguez announced the news in an X post on Wednesday afternoon.
RATINGS NEWS: @MSNBC was the #1 cable news network for primetime Election coverage last night among total viewers, beating FOX & CNN.
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) November 5, 2025
Yesterday was MSNBC’s most-watched day since Election Day 2024,” he added.
Fox’s Tuesday night lineup included coverage co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum and Jesse Watters, and guests such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Trump’s return to office has coincided with Fox transforming itself into the most-watched cable news network, Forbes reported. Just-released October ratings cemented it as the leading channel in primetime.
But a wave of blue wins likely encouraged viewers to switch their channels on Tuesday night.
In New York, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani coasted to victory with the highest voter turnout the city has seen in half a century—despite the president pleading with voters in his former home state to back his opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Trump warned that New York would become an “economic and social disaster” if Mamdani triumphed, even threatening to withhold federal funds from the city if he was elected.
In Virginia, former Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger became the state’s first female governor, riding an anti-Trump wave fueled by the government shutdown and federal cutbacks.
And in New Jersey, former Navy helicopter pilot Mikie Sherrill edged out another Trump-endorsed candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, who had embraced the president’s tax and immigration policies.
Nearly every county in the two states voted more Democratic than in the 2024 presidential election, The New York Times reported.
Even Fox News acknowledged the devastating blow, with the network’s chief political anchor Bret Baier calling election night “a big loss” on Wednesday morning.
“This is a big loss,” Baier, a sometime Trump golfing buddy, said. “If you look inside the numbers, there are some dangerous things.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Fox News for comment.
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