Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says that limiting the first GOP debate to 10 candidates in a “disservice to the American public.”
Mr. Santorum failed to qualify for the prime-time affair, which Fox News capped at 10 participants based on five national polls.
“If I was the Republican party, I would be boasting about our riches, not trying to cull the field by debate rules,” Mr. Santorum said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day.”
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Mr. Santorum is taking part in a 5 p.m. forum along with the other candidates that failed to get a ticket to the main event at 9 p.m.
He said that all 17 GOP presidential candidates should have the chance to participate in the prime-time event, which is expected to be watched by millions of voters.
“That way you would … let the public decide who the best candidate is,” he said.
Mr. Santorum shocked much of the political world by winning the 2012 Iowa caucuses.
He went on to finish a distant second in the nomination race to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
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