USA: Rick Perry drops out of U.S. Republican race for the presidential nomination and endorses Newt Gingrich

Record ID: 347711

  • Title: USA: Rick Perry drops out of U.S. Republican race for the presidential nomination and endorses Newt Gingrich
  • Date: 20th January 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MITT ROMNEY SAYING: "Governor Perry, terrific guy, terrific conservative, been a great governor, was great in the race and we are going to miss him on the stage tonight." PHOTOGRAPHER ROMNEY POSING FOR PICTURE WITH SUPPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEHXU6KXFUUA8A0SHJQEO0C73O
  • Story Text: Texas Governor Rick Perry dropped out of the race for the 2012 Republican U.S. presidential nomination on Thursday (January 19, 2012) after a series of gaffes and controversies undercut the campaign of the one-time frontrunner.
    Perry endorsed former rival Newt Gingrich.
    "I've always believed the mission is greater than the man. As I have contemplated the future of this campaign, I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign," Perry told supporters in South Carolina, the conservative southern state where he had hoped to revive his campaign in Saturday's Republican presidential primary.
    "Therefore today I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president of the United States," Perry said.
    "I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country," he added.
    Perry entered the race in August and briefly was at the front of the pack of Republican candidates, but a series of gaffes, lackluster debate performances and controversial statements during the campaign undermined his standing in polls. He was ridiculed after a major debate stumble in November when he could not remember one of the three government agencies that he had repeatedly said he would eliminate if elected president. He also alienated some conservative voters with his stance on immigration.
    Speaking of Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Perry said: "We've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have. And Newt is not perfect. But who among us is?"
    Perry's poll numbers remained low in South Carolina, with little prospect for improving before the primary or in the state contests ahead. Perry and Gingrich in recent days had both been criticizing frontrunner Mitt Romney over his conduct as head of private equity firm Bain Capital and had called for him to release his federal income tax returns.
    Perry also accused the Obama administration of overreacting to a videotape that shows four U.S. Marines appearing to urinate on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
    The latest controversy to hit Perry came this week when U.S. ally Turkey condemned as "unfounded and inappropriate" the Texas governor's comments that Turkey is ruled by Islamic terrorists and questioned whether it should remain in the NATO alliance.
    Outside his campaign headquarters in South Carolina, Romney had kind words for his former rival.
    "Governor Perry, terrific guy, terrific conservative, been a great governor, was great in the race and we are going to miss him on the stage tonight," Romney said.
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