How was she eligible before? (Obviously not “total percent” of voters, or total delegates since she still has fewer than 4% in the “official” polls.)
Perhaps “still in the race and less than six/five/four candidates”?
The previous debate requirement allowed a candidate to participate if he or she had a single pledged delegate. If the DNC stuck to the previous rules, Gabbard, who did not qualify for any of the debates ahead of the caucuses in Iowa and Nevada or the primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, would have been able to participate.
I think the DNC would eliminate Bernie from the debate and just have Biden debate himself if they thought they could get away with it.