Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina have been given the boot from Thursday's prime-time presidential debate in South Carolina.
The seven candidates who will take Fox Business Network's main stage at 9:00 p.m. EST. include front-runner Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Gov. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Paul said during a "Fox and Friends" interview Dec. 23 that he would not accept an invitation to an undercard debate because he is running a "first-tier campaign." He reiterated that claim Monday during a CNN interview.
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"An artificial designation as being in the second tier is something we can't accept," Paul said Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Other candidates at the dreaded "kiddie table" include former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
Fox Business Network said the top six candidates in the five most recent national polls, in addition to candidates in the top five in either Iowa or New Hampshire, determined the prime-time lineup.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday shows Trump dominating most of his Republican opponents in Iowa.
Quinnipiac questioned 602 likely Republican caucusgoers between Jan. 5-10. Iowans gave Trump 31 percent of the vote, followed by Cruz at 29 percent and Rubio at 15 percent.
The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.