On Sean Hannity’s radio show Tuesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended himself against attacks that he is “dumb,” claiming what is really dumb is how the U.S. economy has worsened under President Obama.
“It’s kind of the same old attacks they made on [Ronald] Reagan and I guess every prominent, effective conservative,” Perry told Hannity’s audience. “And the better we do down here in Texas, the more they are going to attack us. That’s fine.”
“I think my record is going to stand the scrutiny of time across the country,” Perry added, noting Texas’ economic strength. His state has created 47 percent of the country’s jobs since the 2009 stimulus.
Perry argued that while Texas has thrived under his leadership, the U.S. has wilted with Obama at its helm.
“More than a million jobs — during my term as governor — have been created, at the same time this country lost 2.5 million,” Perry said.
“You know, Sean, what’s ‘dumb’ is to oversee an economy that has lost that many millions of jobs, to put unemployment numbers — that over his four years will stay probably at 9 percent, to downgrade the credit of this country, to put fiscal policies in place that were a disaster in the ’30s and try them again in the 2000s. That’s what I consider to be the definition of ‘dumb.’”
Hannity accurately predicted the headline that would emerge from Perry’s radio interview: “Perry calls Obama’s policies dumb.” (RELATED: Perry leads Romney by double digits in SC)
The Texas governor also responded to The Daily Caller’s recent publication of a 1993 letter Perry sent to then-first lady Hillary Clinton, in which he praised her efforts to reform health care.
Perry explained that he was, and is, for health care reform, but not in the form Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have envisioned. And, he said, at the time he wrote the letter, he did not know what a “monstrosity” Clinton’s final proposal would be.
“I had no idea that was going to be the end product. What I thought they were truly going to work towards was trying to reform health care, and we had no idea. ” he said. Perry also reiterated his promise to sign an executive order wiping out as much of “Obamacare” as he can on his first day as president.
“Reforming our health care is an admirable goal, but not to make it a single-payer, individual mandate, Washington-knows-best cram-down,” Perry siad. “No way, no how.”
