Breaking: Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina Do Not Qualify For Main GOP Debate

Kentucky Senator Says Polls Are Wrong

Republican Senator Rand Paul announced minutes ago that he has been told he will not qualify to be on the main stage for this week’s GOP debate. The libertarian-slash-tea-party presidential candidate speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said he will not debate in the undercard event, but will head over to the battleground states to campaign instead.

Thursday’s debate will be hosted by Fox News Business, which just announced the lineup.

On the main stage will be Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich.

In the early debate, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee. 

During the previous debate, the final one of 2015, CNN removed Mike Huckabee from the main stage but he did attend the undercard debate. 

UPDATE: Sen. Paul releases statement denouncing the use of polls to determine “the tiers of this race.”