Rand Paul has Fox News to thank for making the cut in the main debate on CNN Tuesday night.
The Kentucky Senator could have been relegated to the undercard debate at 6 p.m. ET, but was saved by a Fox News poll released just this morning. The Fox News poll gave Paul 5 percent of the vote in Iowa, which fits one of CNN’s criteria (the threshold was 4 percent in either Iowa or New Hampshire or 3.5 percent nationally) for making the main stage.
“In the light of new polling released this morning and in the spirit of being as inclusive as possible, CNN has decided to include Sen. Rand Paul in the prime-time debate,” a CNN spokeswoman said.
Donald Trump will again be front and center flanked by Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz followed by Sen. Marco Rubio, former Gov. Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. John Kasich, and Sen. Paul.