More than a 100 people have filed paperwork to run for president as Republicans. One of them has threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission to compel Fox News to include him in the debates on Thursday.
Fox News does not consider Mark Everson, a former IRS commissioner in President George W. Bush’s administration, a major presidential candidate worthy of appearing on the debate stage. But Everson thinks Fox News has “clearly failed to meet the legal requirement of selecting the field based on ‘pre-established’ and ‘objective’ criteria.”
“Fox News has missed the boat,” Everson said in a statement. “The [Republican National Committee] has recognized 18 legitimate candidates on the GOP website, including me. It has excluded dozens of individuals that have filed paperwork but are not really campaigning.”
As a result, Everson said he will file a formal complaint with the FEC to “compel Fox to allow my participation in Thursday’s second-tier debate.” The FEC told the Washington Examiner it had not yet received such a complaint.
A statement released by Everson explains that he believes Fox News has used “inexcusable exclusionary tactics” to decide who will appear on the debate stage. His statement claims that he was the first declared candidate to open a campaign office in Iowa, that he filed the necessary paperwork before any of the other candidates appearing at the debate, and that he has more federal executive branch experience than any of the other candidates who will take the stage on Thursday.
Fox News will host the first nationally televised debate of GOP presidential candidates on Thursday. The top ten candidates who perform best in a series of nationwide surveys handpicked by Fox News will have the privilege of appearing in prime time. Other candidates included in those same polls but fail to crack the top ten will appear at a separate televised debate, scheduled for 5 p.m. It remains highly unlikely that Everson will take the stage.
In response to Everson’s complaint, Fox News provided the following statement from from Michael Clemente, an executive vice president: “All candidates who meet our criteria and are included in the five most recent national polls will be eligible for the debates.”
