DEFIANT

Rand: I Won't Do an Undercard Debate

Nobody puts Randy in a corner.

Rand Paul said on Wednesday during an appearance on the radio show Kilmeade and Friends that he refuses to participate in the undercard debate if he is placed there by the new standards of the next GOP debate, hosted by Fox Business Network.

“I won’t participate in any kind of second-tier debate,” Paul said. “We’ve got a first-tier campaign. I’ve got 800 precinct chairman in Iowa. I’ve got a 100 people on the ground working for me. I’ve raised 25 million dollars. I’m not gonna let any network or anybody tell me we’re not a first-tier campaign."

When The Daily Beast asked Paul's adviser Doug Stafford if this meant that the Senator would skip the debate entirely, he didn't answer but insisted that Paul would not be relegated to this fate.

"Senator Paul is going to be on the main stage, as he has for every other debate so far," Stafford said. "We are a first tier campaign and he will be on the main stage where he belongs."

—Gideon Resnick