Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina demanded an invitation to this Saturday’s Republican Party New Hampshire debate that will be aired on ABC. But her wishes will not come true as ABC announced Thursday evening that she will be left out of Saturday's debate.
ABC and the RNC are trying to keep Carly out of the #GOPdebate. Sign the petition to help her fight: https://t.co/iAAUJb9ZP6 #LetCarlyDebate
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) February 4, 2016
Fiorina, who has participated in all seven debates thus far, has toggled between four undercard and three main debates.
Saturday’s debate is the first GOP debate not to feature an undercard debate, as three Republican candidates have dropped out of the race in recent days.
Iowa caucuses winner Ted Cruz will be joined by New Hampshire front-runner Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former surgeon Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made the cut.
Candidates who finished in the top three in Iowa or are polling in the top six in New Hampshire or nationally earned an invitation to this Saturday’s debate. Fiorina
Fiorina has been polling behind the seven remaining candidates in national polls. In New Hampshire, she trails everyone but Carson. In a CNN/WMUR poll released Thursday, Fiorina was tied for sixth in New Hampshire with Christie.
Despite Fiorina’s struggles in the polls, a number of prominent Republicans asked ABC and the Republican National Committee to include Fiorina.
Among those pushing for Fiorina were Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. Their efforts were frutile.
.@CarlyFiorina should be on the debate stage Saturday!!
— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) February 4, 2016
Hey @ABC: put @CarlyFiorina on the debate stage! She got more Iowa votes than John and Chris. Don't exclude only woman.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 4, 2016
.@ABC should put @CarlyFiorina in the new hampshire debate. she came in ahead of kasich and christie. She has earned a spot.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 4, 2016
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk.Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs.
