Former Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo blasted Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday, saying “he is finished,” in a sign the GOP’s immigration hawks may soon flock to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Tancredo, who ran for president in 2008 before dropping out and endorsing Romney, defended the Republican frontrunner against Perry’s charge that he employed illegal immigrants to perform landscaping work. “Perry is just as guilty of ‘hiring illegals’ because I am sure he has been served by an illegal alien or has had his food cooked by one in a Texas restaurant,” Tancredo said in an email to the Colorado Peak Politics blog.
Known as one of the conservative movement’s most vocal and prominent anti-immigration activists, Tancredo is a longtime critic of Perry’s relaxed stance on the issue. On Wednesday, he appeared on the Caplis and Silverman radio show and said Perry’s attack on Romney was a desperate move to “get some juices flowing.”
Tancredo, who is currently supporting former Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain for the nomination, also predicted Perry would not win the nomination. “I think he has imploded,” Tancredo said. “I think he is finished and I hope I helped kick some holes in his boat.”