MSNBC was the prime-time ratings winner Wednesday night, thanks to Donald Trump and his controversial comments about abortion.
Trump said Wednesday if abortion were to become illegal in the United States, women who undergo the procedure should face
"some form of punishment."
He later
backed away from the remark, saying doctors who perform the procedure should be punished if it's illegal.
Trump appeared on a town hall with MSNBC's Chris Matthews and the network won the primetime race against its main rivals, Fox News Channel and CNN.
According to numbers cited
by Deadline, MSNBC tallied 400,000 primetime viewers in primetime Wednesday, compared to Fox's 391,000 and CNN's 340,000. Overall, however, Fox won the night with 2.2 million viewers. MSNBC was second in that measurement (1.6 million) and CNN was third (1 million).
Trump's comments led to a firestorm of criticism from all sides.
"Of course women shouldn't be punished," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of Trump's Republican rivals for president. "I think probably Donald Trump will figure out a way to say that he didn't say it or he was misquoted or whatever. I don't think that's an appropriate response."
"Just when you thought it wouldn't get worse," Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter. "Horrific and telling."
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