The FOX News number the president quotes isn’t too far off (the real number 11.5 million viewers), and they did earn more viewers than other networks but this makes sense. According to Harry Enten of FiveThirtyEight, supporters of the party in power are more likely to watch the State of the Union, making it a slightly more partisan affair.
Tonight continues the trend seen in this chart. CNN poll finds a +5 point edge in party for the GOP among SOTU audience. https://t.co/CQ6M3GdLiG pic.twitter.com/kaoN2wCsJX
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) January 31, 2018
It stands to reason that more Republicans watching the State of the Union would give a boost to their preferred propaganda outlet, FOX News.
One more thing about the State of the Union: it usually polls well and those polls never matter to the president’s approval rating.
Since Carter, the average net change in a president's approval rating between before and after the SOTU is 0 points.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) January 29, 2018