The Slatest

Huckabee and Christie Dropped From Tuesday’s Prime-Time Fox News Republican Debate

The Republican field for FOX News first debate in August 2015.  

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The results are in! The Republican debates’ awkward division into grownup and kids tables saw a bit of a shakeup this time around. The next GOP business and economy-themed debate is on FOX Business News on Nov. 10 in Milwaukee and several candidates on Thursday were perilously on the cusp of not qualifying for the main event—namely Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, and Rand Paul. Fox Business News announced the lineup Thursday evening and, in the end, it was Christie and Huckabee who got demoted. Here’s the full line up from Fox News:

The participants qualifying for the prime-time, 9 p.m. ET debate are: Billionaire businessman Donald Trump; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

The participants qualifying for the earlier, 7 p.m. ET debate are: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The Fox News criteria for qualifying for the main stage is a 2.5 percent average over the last four “Fox approved” national polls. But, as Slate’s Josh Voorhees points out, that still gives the network a little wiggle room on what counts as an “approved” debate. It still wasn’t enough to save Christie or former Fox News host, Mike Huckabee.