Rand Paul says he did not qualify to appear on the prime-time debate stage for Thursday’s Fox Business Network-hosted event this Thursday, Fox executives told him earlier on Monday, the Kentucky senator told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“I’ll be taking my campaign directly to New Hampshire and Iowa. I’m not going to be in South Carolina,” he said. “It’s a mistake because the thing is we actually have been in the top five or six in most of the recent polls. In fact, last week in a national poll we were just one point out of fourth place. So I think it’s a mistake to try to exclude me from the national debate.”
Paul said previously he would skip any debate that excluded him from the main event.
“I won’t participate in anything that’s not first tier because we have a first tier campaign,” he told Blitzer.
Fox Business announced last month that its January 14 debate would include the top six candidates based on the average of the five most recent national polls, as well as those who finish in the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire. Paul failed to meet any of those benchmarks.
Fox Business spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night. The network is expected to formally announce which candidates made the main stage later on Monday evening.