Rick Perry Endorses Ted Cruz for President

 

With the Iowa caucus just a week away, former Texas Governor and two time presidential candidate Rick Perry has endorsed Ted Cruz for president.

In an interview with Politico Sunday night, Perry says he now sees the race between the two front-runners, Cruz and Donald Trump. “It appears to be down to two people,” Perry said. “Of those individuals who have a chance to win the Republican primary, at this juncture, from my perspective, Ted Cruz is by far the most consistent conservative in that crowd.”

In the video endorsement posted this morning online by the former Texas governor and the Cruz campaign, Perry explains his reasoning for supporting Cruz. Perry doesn’t mention Trump by name but makes the case for conservatives to rally behind Cruz instead of the current front-runner. Prior to exiting the race, Perry was the first candidate critical of Trump after the remark Trump made of Senator John McCain in a candidates summit over the summer.

“I’m here to stress to you how important it is for conservatives to rally together and support a consistent conservative who will take on Washington,” Perry says in the video. “That is why I support Ted Cruz for president. He also adds that Cruz has proven that he is “ready to serve as Commander in Chief” and “proven the willingness to take on the Washington Cartel and restore power and opportunity back to the people.” In a statement following the endorsement, Cruz said the former governor is a “friend and a remarkable public servant. “[Perry] is a proud veteran who bravely served our nation, and he was an extraordinary governor of Texas. It was an honor to serve under him during my time as Texas’ Solicitor General. I am thrilled to have Rick join our campaign. With his principled leadership, we will coalesce conservatives behind this campaign to win the White House in 2016.”

During his short lived campaign race, Perry would stress that governors make the best presidents over senators. However, the race has dynamically shifted with non politicians and current senators leading the pack as oppose to current and former governors still in the race. “Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush is barely making an impact out there and those are very skilled, very successful experienced governors,”Perry said in the interview. “The electorate doesn’t want that.”

Perry was the first candidate to drop out the 2016 race in September. He is the only Governor who exited the 2016 race to formally endorse a candidate. Former Governors Bobby Jindal and George Pataki along with current Governor Scott Walker have yet to make an endorsement.

Perry could also be very beneficial to Cruz campaign when it comes to Veterans, especially in South Carolina, where the electorate are strongly pro-military bent. After the endorsement, Cruz’s campaign announced that Perry along with Iowa Rep. Steve King will be joining Cruz in multiple stops across Iowa on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mona Salama

Mona Salama is a PolitiChicks political reporter based in New York City covering politics and NYPD. She reports broadly on the 2016 campaign trail from the road and at home. Prior to joining PolitiChicks, Mona started with Wayne Dupree's WAAR where she covered NY politics, 2014 mid-term elections, and the NYPD. In 2015, DC Gazette considers Mona as one of the 20 rising Conservative stars. She was cited as "generally one of the most stunning women in political commentary with a huge future ahead of her, we’re pretty sure Mona Salama will soon easily be the next Andrea Tantaros and a common conservative household name." Currently she is finishing her Masters, all while at the same time covering the 2016 Presidential race, in Public Policy at John Jay College in New York City. Mona can be followed on twitter at @MonaSalama_ and email: mona@politichicks.com

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