Christie and Huckabee get sent to the 'kiddie table', while Lindsey Graham and George Pataki get shut out entirely.
via Fox News
Fox Business Network on Thursday announced the candidate line-up for the Nov. 10 Republican presidential debates.
The candidates qualifying for the prime-time, 9 p.m. ET debate are:
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
The candidates qualifying for the earlier, 7 p.m. ET debate are:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The criteria were stricter than for past debates. In a change, Christie and Huckabee did not qualify for the prime-time event, while former New York Gov. George Pataki and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham did not qualify for either; neither did ex-Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Christie took the relegation in stride, tweeting:
It doesn’t matter the stage, give me a podium and I’ll be there to talk about real issues like this: https://t.co/Fqu5Qi2piX #BringItOn
— Chris Christie (@ChrisChristie) November 6, 2015
