The former Texas governor Rick Perry’s announcement on Sunday that he could mount a third run for the Republican presidential nomination encountered widespread mockery over a famous debate stage gaffe in which he forgot the name of a government department he said he would abolish.
But Perry, 73, also ran into stormier waters, being accused of lying regarding his alleged involvement in Donald Trump’s election subversion.
Perry is the longest-serving Texas governor, in office between 2000 and 2015. A telegenic ex-air force pilot, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and 2016.
Both campaigns flopped but, speaking to CNN on Sunday, he said a third run was “something that I haven’t taken off the table”.
In response, many observers pointed to Perry’s debate stage nightmare in Rochester, Michigan, in November 2011.
Perry said then: “It’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, education, and the uh ... what’s the third one, there? Let’s see … Commerce, education and the, uh, um uh … The third agency of government I would do away with, uh, education, commerce, and, let’s see … I can’t. The third one. I can’t.
“Oops.”
The third department turned out to be the Department of Energy, which Perry eventually led under Trump’s presidency. During his confirmation process, he told senators he regretted calling for the department to be eliminated.
Trump now faces unprecedented legal jeopardy but enjoys commanding leads in Republican polling. On Sunday, Perry declined to endorse him.
“He may get to hear me call him names again,” Perry said, a reference to the 2016 campaign which he quit after failing to qualify for a CNN debate featuring no fewer than 11 presidential hopefuls.
He added: “It’s early in the process, I think, for any of us to sit back and say, ‘I’m for this person or that person.’ [A 2024 run] certainly is something that I haven’t taken off the table, but the chances of it happening are probably a little bit slim.
“There’s a lot of time left, and we’ll see how this all works out.”
Perry resigned as energy secretary in October 2019. To CNN, he denied complicity in Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
In 2021 it was reported, first by CNN, that congressional investigators believed Perry texted Mark Meadows, Trump’s final chief of staff, recommending that Republican-held state legislatures disregard wins for Joe Biden.
Perry on Sunday told CNN: “I didn’t send it, and that’s kind of the interesting thing. As a matter of fact, if you go back and look at the congressional testimony, the congressman who brought that up said later, you know what, we’re not really sure where this came from.”
In December 2021, the text in question was read on the House floor by Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who sat on the House January 6 committee. Raskin initially said the text was sent by a “House lawmaker” but according to CNN, “learned of the error … from CNN” as it reported Perry’s alleged authorship.
On Sunday, Perry added: “I got called on [the texts] a couple times. Number one, it’s not my style of speak, or texting, so to speak. So again, there is a lot of misinformation out there … and that was one piece of it. So I can assure you that that didn’t come from me.”
The Guardian contacted Raskin for comment.
Another January 6 committee member, however, rejected Perry’s claim not to have sent the tweet in question.
Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican now retired from Congress, tweeted: “Well, that’s a lie because he did.”
