Gary Johnson to appear in Thursday night's Republican debate

Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson will be included in the Fox News/Google Debate in Orlando on September 22, despite objections from the Florida Republican Party.

The former Governor of New Mexico and libertarian is an outspoken opponent of the drug war, is in favor of same sex marriage, and supports withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. He also wants to cut Medicare by 43 percent and eliminate "all the mandates," leaving it to states to set up their own health plans.

Johnson participated in the Fox News presidential debate in May, but not in subsequent debates.

He was able to participate in Thursday's debate, along with eight other presidential candidates, after Fox made a slight change to their requirements. Under the tweaked requirements, in order to participate in the debate candidates needed to poll at least 1 percent in the last five polls in which they were presented as an option.

The debate will be broadcast live on Fox News and live-streamed on Google-owned YouTube.