New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Governor Mike Huckabee missed their chance to debate on the main stage in the Fox Business/Wall Street Journal debate scheduled for next Tuesday.
The two low-rated candidates will join former Rick Santorum and Gov. Bobby Jindal in the undercard debate, which will begin early, at 6 p.m.
The news is far worse for candidates Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Governor George Pataki, who were eliminated entirely from the debates.
According to Fox Business, each candidate on the main stage was required to have at least 2.5 percent in the four most recent national polls. To make the undercard stage candidates had to earn at least one percent.
Both Huckabee and Christie are more charismatic debaters, and will likely have more time to speak in a smaller forum. But being demoted to the kids’ table could chill their candidacies going forward, particularly with donors.
Christie was quick to react on Twitter with an optimistic message. “It doesn’t matter the stage, give me a podium and I’ll be there to talk about real issues like this,” he wrote, linking to a viral video of him talking about helping drug addicts.
The main debate stage will feature only eight candidates: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, former governor Jeb Bush, former governor John Kasich, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul, and Carly Fiorina.
The results were announced on Fox Business this evening by Lou Dobbs.
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