Mitt Romney and two other top Republicans called on ABC News to include Carly Fiorina in Saturday’s debate, as she is the lone candidate outside of former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore to be excluded from the stage.
In tweets Thursday afternoon, Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Kelly Ayotte all called for the network to include the former Hewlett-Packard CEO in the debate. She’s being excluded on the basis of criteria released the week before the Iowa caucuses and three candidates subsequently exiting the race.
Romney tweeted the network should not “exclude [the] only woman” in the GOP field, especially given that she beat New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, a sentiment echoed by Gingrich. Fiorina, who won 1.9 percent in Iowa, raked in 11 more votes than Kasich and 201 more than Christie.
.@ABC should put @CarlyFiorina in the new hampshire debate. she came in ahead of kasich and christie. She has earned a spot.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 4, 2016
Hey @ABC: put @CarlyFiorina on the debate stage! She got more Iowa votes than John and Chris. Don’t exclude only woman.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 4, 2016
Meanwhile, Ayotte’s statement argued that her exclusion from the debate by ABC “undermines” the role of voters in the “primary process.”
My statement on @abcnews #FITN debate: pic.twitter.com/tlWmBjaXl5
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) February 4, 2016
The ABC News/Independent Journal Review debate will be the first without an undercard as the field has winnowed down to nine candidates. According to debate criteria, all candidates will be excluded who did not finish in the top-three in the Iowa caucuses or polls outside the top six in either New Hampshire or in national polls.
Fiorina currently sits seventh in New Hampshire with 3.5 percent support and eighth nationally with only 2.2 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
