--- title: Republican Debate: CNN Announces Criteria for GOP Debate description: The debate will be held on Dec. 15 canonical: https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-20T17:28:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:05.572Z article:section: Politics og:title: CNN Announces Criteria for Next Republican Debate og:description: The debate will be held on Dec. 15 og:url: https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bbde2029885474c/6988722d8e060159dc4636f5/gettyimages-496586918-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4746 og:image:height: 2670 og:image:alt: &lt;&gt; on November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CNN Announces Criteria for Next Republican Debate twitter:description: The debate will be held on Dec. 15 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bbde2029885474c/6988722d8e060159dc4636f5/gettyimages-496586918-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # CNN Announces Criteria for Next Republican Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=516ae963-265d-44f9-ae3e-1760a1a2890b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2015-09-17. Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate._ by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Nov 20, 2015 5:28 PM UTC  Presidential candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich (L-R), speaks while Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz (R-TX) take part in the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Journal at the Milwaukee Theatre November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Presidential candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich (L-R), speaks while Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz (R-TX) take part in the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Journal at the Milwaukee Theatre November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Nov 20, 2015 5:28 PM UTC CNN has announced the [new debate criteria](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/20/politics/republican-presidential-debate-criteria-announced/index.html) for the network’s Dec. 15 Republican debate. The new criteria would currently leave nine candidates on the main stage, with any candidate who polls either at 3.5% nationally, 4% in Iowa or 4% in New Hampshire on average between Oct. 29 and Dec. 13 eligible to participate. CNN will average polling results from a variety of sources to determine each candidate’s popularity. As of Friday, those rules would put the following candidates in the debate, according to CNN: Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. An undercard debate for candidates who don’t meet the criteria for the main stage will also be hosted by CNN, Facebook and Salem Media. The December debate will be held at The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, and will be moderated by CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer, with CNN correspondent Dana Bash and talk radio host Hugh Hewitt serving as questioners. \[[CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/20/politics/republican-presidential-debate-criteria-announced/index.html)\] ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] I never attacked him on his look. And believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. [ LAUGH ] We don't need an apprentice in the White House. We have one right now. So 40 years ago, I smoked marijuana. But when you challenge the status quo, you make enemies. I made a few. Steve Jobs told me that when he called me the day I was fired. More energy tonight. I like that. Just because he says it doesn't make it true. I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said. [ MUSIC ] We're fighting ISIS. ISIS wants to fight Syria. Why are we fighting ISIS in Syria? Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants . >> Yes. Having met Vladimir Putin, I wouldn't talk to him at all. We've talked way too much to him. The single biggest National security threat facing America right now, is the threat of a nuclear Iran. We are stronger when we work with the western civilization, our friends in Europe, and just doing it on our own, I don't think is the right policy. I don't think we need to be rash. I don't think we need to be reckless. And I think we need to leave a lines of communication open. We need to be strong against China. How do we confront Iran? And the first thing that we need to do is to reestablish our commitment to Israel, which has been tattered by this administration. [ MUSIC ] I defunded Planned Parenthood. And I vetoed Planned Parenthood funding, now, 8 times in New Jersey. We don't want this organization to get funding, and the money oughta be reprogrammed. And for family planning in other organizations that don't support this tactic. Let's ask Hillary Clinton. She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb, to preserve their body parts [ UNKNOWN ] in a way that maximizes their value for sale for profit. Well he's wrong on a lot of things, but on this he's wrong because I'm the most pro- life governor on this stage. I'd like to link these two issues, both of which are incredibly important. Iran and Planned Parenthood. One has something to do with the defense of the security of this nation. The other has something to do with the defense of the character of this nation. We need to take the fingerprint of every person. Who comes to this country on a visa, and when they over stay their visa we need to tap them on the shoulder and say, you have over stayed your welcome, you're taking advantage of the American people, it's time for you to go. If we don't seal the border the rest of the stuff really doesn't matter. You're proud of your family just as I am. Correct. To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous. Political conversation was completely inappropriate. And I hope you apologize for that, Donald. But to build a wall and to deport people, half a million a month, would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, Donald. This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish. [ APPLAUSE ] And the next president of the United States better be someone who understands these issues, and has good judgment about them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/"},"headline":"CNN Announces Criteria for Next Republican Debate","datePublished":"2015-11-20T17:28:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:05.572Z","description":"The debate will be held on Dec. 15","url":"https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/","keywords":["Debates","republicans","CNN","2016","Election 2016","presidential election","GOP Debate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bbde2029885474c/6988722d8e060159dc4636f5/gettyimages-496586918-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bbde2029885474c/6988722d8e060159dc4636f5/gettyimages-496586918-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"<> on November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.","caption":"<> on November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/","name":"CNN Announces Criteria for Next Republican Debate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes","description":"Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZG84mwx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-17T04:16:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/","duration":"PT2M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4122419/cnn-republican-debate-criteria-december-2015/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```