Rand Paul: 'It's a Mistake to Exclude Me From Main Debate'

GOP presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul says he'll boycott the Fox Business Network debate Jan. 14 in South Carolina rather than be relegated to "anything less than first tier."

In an interview on "The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer" shortly before it was formally announced the Kentucky lawmaker didn't make the cut for the main stage debate, Paul charged the polls have been "wildly inaccurate" and that "it would be very very arbitrary to exclude me."

"It's a mistake," he asserted. "We have been in the top six in the last five polls. I think it's a mistake to exclude me from the main debate…. [and] artificial to be on the second tier… I won't be in anything that's not the first tier. We've let [Fox Business Network] know that."

"We don't think anyone should be able to characterize our campaign as anything less than first tier," he added.

Paul said the only true poll is "when the election happens," and declared his campaign had possibly "the best ground game in Iowa."

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