AP FACT CHECK: Misshapen rhetoric in Republican debate

Paul, who failed to gain enough traction in recent polls to qualify for the main GOP presidential debate in North Charleston, South Carolina, jokingly told "Daily Show" Host Trevor Noah that he was anxious he wouldn't make the show's mock debate either. "They've been saying for months they're going to narrow the field".

The Jan. 14 debate will focus on economic, domestic and global policy issues and will air live from the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center in North Charleston, S.C.

But Paul's camp is pointing at a Wednesday Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll that bumps him into a tie for fifth place in Iowa with Jeb Bush, which would have likely earned him a spot on the main stage.

Paul said the fault didn't lie with the networks.

This time, the network used different criteria to determine the participants in the Thursday's debate.

Invited to the undercard debate are Senator Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Senator Rick Santorum.

The Republican presidential candidates will hold their final debate before the primary voting begins.

"He won't participate", said Sergio Gor, Paul's spokesman, in an email, noting the candidate is scheduled to campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"He doesn't have a way to build a relationship with principle pockets of support in the Republican Party", he tells OneNewsNow.

"Cruz now finds himself in the cross hairs where pretty much everyone else has found themselves with Donald Trump", said New Hampshire Republican operative Patrick Griffin.

FOX Business Network's response was unyielding. Ted Cruz, Fla. Sen. Know your limit and drink in moderation, because as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy points out, "You simply can't drink every time one of these guys says something silly..."

He said that Paul's argument is made more credible by staying out of the undercard debate on principle. However, her poll numbers have steadily declined since the fall, and recent national surveys as well as those in early voting states have put her in low single digits.