GOP presidential contender Rick Perry blamed “major back surgery” as one of the reasons for his embarrassing performance in 2012, saying he wasn’t prepared to run for president then and underestimated the knowledge and expertise required to compete for the presidency.
But much has changed since 2012, Perry said. “The American people are going to see a very different candidate than they did four years ago,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
But host Chris Wallace did not pull any punches, framing his past run for president as an embarrassment, referencing Perry’s legendary gaffe when he could not recall the names of the government agencies he would reform. Wallace even asked if it is realistic for Perry to consider himself a serious candidate.
Wallace asked “what happened,” referring to 2012 as Perry’s “embarrassing run for president.”
Surprisingly, Perry blamed his lagging performance on poor physical health. “I recommend anyone running for president, make sure you’re healthy. I had major back surgery and I didn’t prepare properly.”
“I think the real issue there was, I thought being governor for the state of Texas for 12 years was enough preparation to run for the presidency,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, there is nothing like it. Until you’ve done it, you don’t even realize what a challenge it is, [and] the broad array of issues that you have to have more than just passing knowledge on.”
Perry said it “takes years” to prepare for a presidential race, and requires sitting down with “individuals who have deep knowledge of what’s going on in the world” and the economy.
Perry says he has been schooled by a number of top officials, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and others, on a range of policy areas. “I feel very comfortable now … that I can have those conversations, regurgitate that information that I know and have absorbed.”
But Wallace said Perry isn’t going to get any breaks, saying on Friday that “social media” targeted him for calling the shooting in Charleston an “accident.” Wallace said it was clearly a slip of the tongue — Perry meant to say incident — but it raises questions about whether Perry can maneuver quickly enough in the new race.
“Don’t you have to run almost a perfect campaign? Because if you make any mistake, that with any other candidate would be ignored, they’ll say ‘that’s Rick Perry again,’ ” Wallace remarked.
“I don’t think they are going to ignore anybody,” Perry said.
RealClearPolitics has Perry running 11th in Iowa, Wallace noted. “Realistically, do you have a chance to win?” asked Wallace. “Or, is this more about personal redemption, telling people you are not the Rick Perry of 2012?”
Perry stammered, saying Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said he “complimented” him for spending a lot of time in the state. “This is a process,” Perry said. “Don’t get hung up on today’s poll. Let’s see what it looks like in January.”
