Rick Perry endorses Ted Cruz
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the first Republican presidential candidate to drop out of the 2016 race, has thrown his support behind his fellow Texan, Sen. Ted Cruz.
"2016 is a critical election and I'm here to stress to you how important it is for conservatives to rally together and support a consistent conservative candidate who will take on Washington and who can defeat the Democrat nominee," Perry said in a video released Monday.
The endorsement heavily played up Perry's experience serving in the Air Force, which he said allowed him to understand what men and women in the military deserve in a commander-in-chief: Someone who "values their service," "keep our military strong" and will "put America's national security interests first."
He also said Cruz has proven that he's ready for the job, and that he has "the willingness to take on the Washington Cartel and restore power and opportunity back to the people."
The video ends with Perry telling Iowans to caucus for Cruz next Monday. Watch the video here:
In a statement, Cruz called Perry "a friend and a remarkable public servant."
"He is a proud veteran who bravely served our nation, and he was an extraordinary governor of Texas. ... With his principled leadership, we will coalesce conservatives behind this campaign to win the White House in 2016."
Cruz served as Texas' solicitor general for more than five years while Perry was governor of the state. But in a Fox Business News interview, Perry indicated that the two men hadn't spent that much time together until he suspended his own presidential bid.
"I spent a good bit of time after I suspended my campaign taking a look around. And Sen. Cruz reached out to me a number of times and I spent a lot of time with him," Perry said. "I had this caricature of him that I had gotten from the newspapers and through the political lens and what I found is a very different individual -- a person who is an extraordinary listener, a person who I am comfortable with on day one."
Perry's short-lived presidential bid ended in September after his bid failed to garner significant support among voters or donors. Even as a staunch conservative with a 14-year record as governor, his reputation never seemed to fully recover from his unsuccessful 2012 presidential bid. He dropped out of that race after a number of missteps, including the infamous "oops" moment during a Republican debate in which he forgot the third government agency that he would eliminate.
After he dropped out in 2012, Perry endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.