Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) seemed to forget during Thursday’s second-tier GOP debate for the presidential nomination that he served 15 years as governor.
“It just needs a corporate executive type at the top that’s done it before. And I will suggest to you nobody’s done it like Rick Perry has done it over the last eight years,” Perry said.
Perry made this gaffe during his closing statement. He was governor from 2000 to 2015.
Perry began his statement by highlighting the growth of the Texas economy in an unprecedented term as governor. He also referred to himself in the third person during the closing statement.
“I think that the record of the governor of the last 14 years of the 12th largest economy in the world is just the medicine America’s looking for: 1.5 million jobs created during the worst economic time this country has had since the great depression while the rest of the country lost 400,000 jobs,” Perry said.
But Perry for some reason began to focus on just eight years, ignoring the fact that he ran the state before that as well.
“There is a place in this country over the last eight years in particular that talked about hope every day. And they didn’t just talk about it, they delivered it. And that was the state of Texas. And if we can do that in Texas, that 12th largest economy in the world, we can do it in America,” he said.
Shortly after the debate, Perry declared victory, highlighting his term as the longest serving governor in Texas.
“Not only does Governor Perry have an optimistic, conservative vision for the United States, he has an unparalleled record of accomplishment as the longest serving governor in Texas history,” the statement read.
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This post has been updated.
