Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former HP chief executive Carly Fiorina did not make the cut to participate in the first primetime GOP presidential debate of 2016.
Paul and Fiorina were each invited to participate in a smaller, 6 p.m. ET debate, which Paul told CNN he plans to skip.
"An artificial designation as being in the second tier is something we can't accept," Paul told CNN on Monday, before the debate lineup was announced publicly. "I won't participate in anything that's not the first tier."
.@RandPaul to CNN: "We will not participate in anything that's not first-tier.” https://t.co/ESS97hF0fq— Juana Summers (@jmsummers) January 11, 2016
Paul's failure to make the debate stage is a blow to his campaign just three weeks ahead of the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, but it was not totally surprising. Before the debate lineup was announced, Doug Stafford, a Paul strategist, said that Paul "expects to be on the stage this week because he has qualified to do so and because he has a top-tier campaign."
Following Fox Business' announcement, Paul's campaign said that "by any reasonable criteria, Senator Paul has a top tier campaign."
"He will not let the media decide the tiers of this race and will instead take his message directly to the voters of New Hampshire and Iowa," the statement said.
Fiorina's campaign did not immediately respond to the release of the debate lineup.
Fiorina's campaign got a boost after her strong performance in the first “undercard debate,” earning her a primetime slot in the second GOP debate. However, she has struggled to transition her strength in the debate into better polls or fundraising.
The candidate lineup for the 9p ET @FoxBusiness #GOPDebate on Thursday, January 14th: pic.twitter.com/mKHykPBzdm— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 12, 2016
Just seven candidates will share the stage during Thursday's 9 p.m. ET debate, hosted by Fox Business Network.
Businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will participate in the primetime debate.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Gov. Rick Santorum were invited to participate in the so-called "undercard" debate.