Carly Fiorina took shots at both ABC and the Republican National Committee, saying “the game is rigged” against her. Her appearance came the day after ABC announced that she would not be included in this Saturday’s GOP debate.
“The people who should be frustrated, actually more than frustrated are the people of Iowa and New Hampshire,” the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Republican presidential hopeful said on “Morning Joe” Friday when asked if she was “frustrated” by her exclusion from the debate.
Though Fiorina didn’t make the debate because she didn’t poll high enough, she argued that she won more delegates in the Iowa caucuses than New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and tied with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and thus should be in the debate. Her nationwide RealClearPolitics average is 2 percentage points.
“The voters of Iowa voted — and in that vote I beat Christie, Kasich, tied Bush for delegates … and yet I’m not on the stage and they are,” Fiorina argued, adding, “I have been saying all along in this election, the game is rigged. And now you see it.”
According to Fiorina, a slew of notable Republicans, including candidates Ben Carson and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have lobbied ABC News on her behalf to let her debate, but some other notable candidates haven’t.
“The rest of them were silent, maybe they’re afraid to debate me,” Fiorina said, alluding that others may not want her to ever debate Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“The game is rigged. Here’s what I’m going to keep saying to the nation right now, in particular those in New Hampshire: Power is being taken away from you day after day. Votes and delegates don’t matter that much,” Fiorina argued, before then taking shots at ABC.
“What matters is back room deals between the RNC and ABC. This is George Stephanopoulos’ network after all … Maybe George doesn’t want to see Hillary Clinton ever have to debate. But it’s a rigged deal,” she concluded.
In addition to not placing among the top three in Iowa, Fiorina is not in the top six in any national polls nor the top six in New Hampshire.
