Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is calling on CNN to change its criteria for the GOP debate the network will host in September.
Fiorina wants CNN to alter the rules that will split up the debate in two parts: one segment will feature candidates in the top 10 of an average of national polls and the other segment will include another seven candidates polling outside of the top 10.
Candidates who don’t make it on stage with the top 10 candidates are perceived as less likely to win the party’s nomination and Fiorina’s national poll numbers only recently broke into that range.
“Despite being solidly in the top 10 by every measure, the political establishment is still rigging the game to keep Carly off the main debate stage next month,” said an email blast to supporters Wednesday from Fiorina’s campaign.
The letter notes that CNN’s current debate criteria may keep Fiorina out of the top 10 because they will include several polls from before the time Fiorina’s numbers jumped into that field.
Fiorina’s numbers climbed after what was seen as a stellar performance in the first debate on Aug. 6. At that debate, she was also excluded from the top-10 stage.
Her campaign called on the Republican National Committee, which approved CNN’s debate, to pressure the network to change its rules in a way that would be more favorable to Fiorina.
“To be clear, if Carly isn’t on the main stage, it will not be because her rise in the polls can’t overcome lower polling from July, but because only two of CNN’s chosen polling companies have released polls at all since the first debate,” the email said. “If the RNC won’t tell CNN to treat post-debate polling consistently with pre-debate polling, they are putting their thumb on the scale and choosing to favor candidates with higher polling for three weeks in July over candidates with measurable momentum in August and September.”
The CNN debate is set for Sep. 16.
A spokesperson for CNN did not return a request for comment.
