Fox Business Debate May Restrict Main Stage to 5 Candidates

Fox Business, the host of the January 14th GOP primary debate, released candidate criteria for making the debate stage.

In order to make the primetime debate stage, candidates must rank in the top six nationally and place in the top five in Iowa and New Hampshire polls through January 11th.

Fox Business states the candidates must either:

• Place in the top six nationally, based on an average of the five most recent national polls recognized by FOX News.
OR
• Place in the top five in Iowa, based on an average of the five most recent Iowa state polls recognized by FOX News.
OR
• Place in the top five in New Hampshire, based on an average of the five most recent New Hampshire state polls recognized by FOX News.

The remaining candidates will be invited to participate in the earlier debate.

The two debates in South Carolina will focus on economic, domestic, and international issues.