Rachel Maddow Tears Into CNN Debate Format: 'It's A Total Mess'

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow mocked CNN's debate lineup Thursday, announced moments before her show began.

Following Fox News' lead, CNN had originally said it was limiting the number of candidates participating in the debate to 10 -- a totally arbitrary number. But on Thursday, the network announced it would just as arbitrarily allow 11 candidates on the stage.

"In the first Republican debate last month, for some reason, the host of that debate, The Fox News Channel, decided that even though there were 17 candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination, they, The Fox News Channel, would only allow the magic number of 10 of those candidates to appear in the debate," Maddow said.

"I believe this was a fairly ridiculous decision," she added.

Having the remaining seven candidates participate in a secondary debate was "a really big insult to those candidates," said Maddow, who appeared baffled as to why CNN decided to stick to the same format Fox News used two months ago.

"It's one thing for Fox to kind of fudge this. For CNN to do this, it’s just — it’s worse than catch-as-catch-can," she said. "I won’t say what I really think it is. I find it amazing that this is the way that any major political party is picking their presidential candidate this year. It’s a total mess."