Fiorina Calls CNN Debate Change Team Effort

Rising GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said CNN made the right move in changing the eligibility requirements for the second, Sept. 16, Republican debate, but called it a team effort.

CNN is changing the poll averaging to capture more of the movement of candidates since the first, Aug. 6, debate, a move that helps Fiorina.

In an interview on Fox News Radio's Kilmeade & Friends, Fiorina pointed out she was the only candidate who had gone from below the top 10 in the polls to being in the top 10. "CNN looked at the facts and realized that there are so few polls between August 6th and September 10th, that by averaging polls going all the way back to July 17th, they were really disadvantaging people who made a big move," she said.

But Fiorina suggested CNN had help in making the decision. "I have to say we had literally thousands of people all across the country who were weighing in with CNN and saying, you know, this just isn’t fair, she’s earned her place on that stage. I am so grateful for all the people across the nation who weighed in – this was a big team effort."

Earlier in the week, Fiorina had slammed CNN over the eligibility requirement, including on Fox News, which had also suggested CNN was looking at old polls that did not reflect new realities.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.