Republican presidential candidate and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Monday that the Fox Business Network had officially informed him that he would not be eligible for the main stage debate Thursday night, and vowed not to participate in the earlier undercard debate.
"We were just told they were having a mathematical problem over there, and they're adding the numbers, and we think they're confused because, they're not including us in the main stage and we think they're really wrong with that," Paul told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Fox Business Network said their debate criteria for the main stage would include the candidates who place top six in national polls or top five in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Paul cited recent polls showing him as one of the top six candidates, and said he didn't think any network should be able to categorize his campaign as "anything less than first tier."
"We think it's a rotten thing to do to try to designate which candidates have a chance and don't, and so we will not participate in anything that's not first tier," Paul said.
The candidate lineup for the @FoxBusiness 9p ET #GOPDebate on Thursday, January 14th: