Romney, Gingrich want Fiorina in debate

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are the latest politicians rallying to include Carly Fiorina onstage at Saturday’s GOP debate just three days before the New Hampshire primary.

Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, called on ABC News, which is hosting the last debate before the Feb. 9 election, to invite the businesswoman to the prime-time event, arguing that she placed higher than Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at Monday’s Iowa caucuses.

The former Massachusetts governor tweeted on Thursday:

Hey @ABC: put @CarlyFiorina on the debate stage! She got more Iowa votes than John and Chris. Don’t exclude only woman.

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 4, 2016

Gingrich, a former Speaker of the House and 2012 presidential candidate, also tweeted his support for Fiorina’s appearance on the debate stage:

@abcnews should put @CarlyFiorina in the new hampshire debate.she came in ahead of kasich and christie. She has earned a spot.

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 4, 2016

Fiorina has been pushing the Republican National Committee to invite her to the prime-time debate with the lack of an undercard on Saturday night. She sent a letter to the RNC on Wednesday asking to be included on the stage and criticized the “broken” debate process.  

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) on Thursday also urged the network to allow Fiorina to participate.

“Carly Fiorina has campaigned hard in New Hampshire to earn support from voters,” Ayotte said in a statement to ABC.

“ABC News’ decision to exclude her from Saturday’s debate on the eve of our primary, while she is outperforming one of the other debate participants in New Hampshire polls, undermines our role in the primary process.”