Fox News’ Executive Vice President Michael Clemente announced this week that the network is relaxing the rules for next week’s debate in hopes it will be more inclusive.
According to Clemente, the 1% polling minimum will be removed from the criteria for entrance into the 5pm lower tier debate which has been planned for those candidate who fail to make the cut for the top ten.
The move, however, is likely to fuel the fire of criticism given that several credible candidates — John Kasich, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham and George Pataki — will not have a shot at the 9pm primetime stage.
According to Politico’s polling breakdown, the debate stage will likely feature Paul, Christie, Huckabee, Trump, Perry, Cruz, Carson, Bush, Walker and Rubio.
