In a public letter, fourteen South Carolina elected officials demand CNN president Jeff Zucker include GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina in the September 16 debate.
Media reports have been surfacing over the past week as Fiorina’s campaign has surged, shedding light on the fact that the debate rules could exclude Fiorina from the top 10, and again keep her off of the main stage.
“Mrs. Fiorina has earned the right to be on the main stage of the CNN debate. Her win at the Fox News “undercard” debate and her rise in the polls show her to be quite capable and well-ranked,” stated South Carolina House of Representatives, District 124 Rep. Shannon Ericson. “The citizens we represent, those who will participate in South Carolina’s First in the South Primary, deserve the opportunity to assess all of the true contenders in this race. We write today to urge CNN to include her in the September 16 main stage debate.”
The letter states, “Simply put, leaving Carly Fiorina out of the September 16th lineup is not in the best interests of an informed electorate, nor do we believe it is in the best interests of CNN’s viewers who are an essential part of that electorate.”
The National Journal reported that CNN has stated the Federal Election Commission guidelines “prevent them from changing the criteria after it’s been made public — a claim that some elections law experts contest.”