During the Patriot Games organized by Donald Trump‘s White House, Americans exercised their freedom to change the channel. Via Awful Announcing, ABC earned just 1.21 million viewers, less than they would’ve expected from a game show re-run.
The event was part of Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration that also included the erratically organized Great American State Fair. On the one hand, ABC had Pat McAfee (that’s right, the musician) and ESPN’s top executives seated next to Trump during the Patriot Games; but on the other hand, the network only aired selected highlights, and even those came two full days after it ended on Thursday, August 13th. Taken together, it seems like ABC was trying to find a compromise between kissing the ring and raising the finger.
Patriot Games bombed in the time slot, which is usually held by the ancient game show, Press Your Luck. The previous new episode of PYL aired on August 6th pulled in 2.86 million viewers, and the most recent re-run, from July 2025, even managed 2.161 million viewers. That’s right; fewer people watched the Patriot Games than tuned in for a re-run of a 43-year-old game show.
