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ELECTIONS
Donald Trump

Fox News announces GOP debate field

David Jackson
USA TODAY

John Kasich and Chris Christie are in — Rick Perry is out.

GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Scott Walker.

Kasich and Christie clinched the last two spots for this week's 10-candidate debate, Fox News announced Tuesday, joining Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.

The debate will be 9 p.m. Thursday in Cleveland.

Perry finished 11th in the aggregate of polls Fox used to determine the field. That relegated the former Texas governor to a debate at 5 p.m. Thursday with other candidates outside the top 10: Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore.

"Our field is the biggest and most diverse of any party in history and I am glad to see that every one of those extremely qualified candidates will have the opportunity to participate on Thursday evening," said Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus. "Republicans across the country will be able to choose which candidate has earned their support after hearing them talk through the issues."

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Perry's absence from the prime-time debate eliminates one of the party's most outspoken critics of Trump, the brash billionaire who leads Republican preference polls.

Taking the rejection in stride, Perry tweeted that he is looking forward to the 5 p.m. debate "for what will be a serious exchange of ideas & positive solutions to get America back on track."

Candidates who struggled to get into the top 10 protested Fox's selection process, which was based on national polls. They pointed out that the nomination is decided state-by-state, starting with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

"National polls are meaningless in August," said Santorum campaign spokesman Matt Beynon, calling the process "incredibly flawed."

During a forum Monday in New Hampshire, businesswoman Carly Fiorina thanked organizers for inviting all the candidates and "reminding the political class that we don't have a national primary."

In a statement after the lineup was announced, Fiorina said she looked "forward to answering questions on Thursday in Cleveland."

Most of the focus of Thursday's prime-time session will be on Trump, who is running his first political race and participating in his first campaign debate.

The New York-based businessman has attributed his success to the immigration issue and to his triumphs in the business world.

"People see that, and I would put all of that energy and whatever that brain power is ... into making our country successful and our country grow again," Trump said Tuesday on MSNBC.

Asked how he might handle Trump in the debate, Kasich jokingly told CNN, "maybe I'll give him a hug."

Bush said Tuesday that he respects the Republican front-runner and looks forward to the debate.

In naming the debate field, Fox News said Trump led its poll aggregation with 23.4%, followed by Bush at 12% and Walker at 10.2%.

The remainder of the top ten: Huckabee (6.6%), Carson (5.8%), Cruz (5.4%), Rubio (5.4%), Paul (4.8%), Christie (3.4%) and Kasich (3.2%).

The percentages for the other candidates: Perry (1.8%), Santorum (1.4%), Jindal (1.4%), Fiorina (1.3%), Graham (0.7%), Pataki (0.6%) and Gilmore (0.2%).

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