The Iowa caucuses have struggled to get airtime on the evening news as anchors opt to cover the impeachment trial instead of the presidential primary.
According to a report from CNN Business, nightly news programs on NBC, CBS, and ABC spent 86 minutes of airtime covering the Iowa caucuses in the lead-up to the 2016 election. In 2020, the networks spent just 10 minutes covering the Iowa caucuses, which take place Monday night.
A major factor in the reduced Iowa caucus coverage is the impeachment of President Trump. The House passed two articles of impeachment against the president in December, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held onto the articles for several weeks hoping to influence the Senate’s trial process. As a result, impeachment saturated the airwaves in the two weeks leading up to Iowa.
The 2016 Iowa caucuses were slightly different from the 2020 caucuses in that both Republicans and Democrats had competitive nominations. There are Republicans running against Trump in 2020, but the GOP race is hardly competitive and could affect the total time spent on the race with just one party to cover.
In addition to less coverage on the evening news, impeachment has also dwindled the amount of time some of the candidates have to campaign. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Michael Bennet of Colorado were all tied to the impeachment trial and could only travel to Iowa on Sunday when the Senate was in recess.
The Senate voted on Friday against allowing additional witness testimony and documents. The trial is expected to conclude on Wednesday when the Senate holds a vote to either convict or acquit the president.
