Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in their TV ratings battle from their duelling town hall events, figures showed Friday, while the president faced condemnation over his failure to disavow the QAnon conspiracy theory. Biden, the Democratic challenger, attracted almost 1 million more viewers, according to Nielsen, even though Trump’s event was shown on more channels. The figures from the TV events late on Thursday will probably enrage the ratings-obsessed president, who told aides he hoped to beat Biden and then use the numbers to humiliate him. Biden’s town hall on ABC averaged 13.9 million viewers, CNN reported, citing Nielsen, while Trump’s audience was about 13 million cross three channels. The president’s responses to questions about QAnon were drawing condemnation on Friday. QAnon’s followers believe that Trump is trying to save the world from a cabal of satanic paedophiles that includes Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities. It has been linked to several violent acts since 2018 including at least one alleged murder. The US president has praised QAnon adherents including a congressional candidate. At a televised “town hall” on Thursday, he repeatedly claimed to be ignorant of the movement, considered by the FBI as a potential domestic terror threat. “I know nothing about QAnon,” he told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in Miami, Florida. ‘I do know they are very much against paedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it … I just don’t know about QAnon.” Guthrie forcefully interjected: “You do know!”