2016 Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry gave an bizarre, bumbling answer when asked by MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin what Republican in Congress — specifically Mitch McConnell and John Boehner — are “doing well and what they are doing poorly,” during Thursday’s broadcast of “Morning Joe.”
PERRY: Well, obviously, I think they’re doing a poor job of, uh, making Americans believe that they can actually make Congress work and work with the president. Now part of that is the president’s problem, and I think — one of the things I learned as governor is you’ve got to reach out across the party lines. I’d rather have half a loaf than no loaf, and right now we’re getting a lot of no loaf. Matter of fact, we’re not even getting a slice, at this particular point in time. So… a president that actually wants to work with Congress, and I think Congress has to cross that line too.
HALPERIN: What are Boehner and McConnell doing well now?
PERRY: Um, listen. I think they’re working towards a… [pause] getting some [pause]… getting some [pause]… um, financial things headed in the right direction. Making some, you know, reductions in spending. Getting these agencies, but the fact is that the American people don’t really see Washington, whether it’s Congress or whether it’s the president… [pause] addressing the solutions that are facing this country. They want somebody that can get things done, and I go back to, as the governor of Texas, we got things done. I never did anything — not tort reform, not a major education bill, not any of the big issues we did in Texas — without Democrats helping. So, I think you’ve got to reach across and get the Democrats and Republicans working together.
