Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul said Wednesday on MSNBC he would appeal his planned exclusion from Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate based on the results of the new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll.
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On Thursday, GOP candidates are participating in two debates at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center. “I am the one voice saying … the government shouldn’t be collecting all your records, and I’m the one voice saying we shouldn’t lock up every kid for marijuana”, Paul said. Rand Paul, R-Ky., were both removed from the main event debate and sent to the undercard to be joined by former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., and former U.S. Sen.
“We announced the criteria in December and clearly stated the polling needed to be conducted and released by Monday, January 11th at 6pm/ET”, a Fox Business spokesperson told Business Insider in an email. Once seen as the rising star in the Republican Party, Paul has struggled in the polls, especially recently as his noninterventionist stance on foreign policy became a liability after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November.
FOX Business Network’s response was unyielding.
The newly reduced field will include Donald Trump, who still holds a comfortable lead in most national polls, and holds a lead in New Hampshire primary with 33 percent, according to FOX News.
The campaign-trail bickering over the past few days between Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Fla. Sen. Rick Santorum will square off in the undercard debate at 6 p.m.
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You can also watch the debate for free through the Fox News app on Android or iOS, or the Fox News Election HQ 2016 app (Android and iOS). “It might not do him any good, but I, frankly, think it is more likely to do him good than participating in yet another undercard debate”, he said.
