Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Friday defended the bill he signed in 2011 requiring voters to present a photo ID after Hillary Clinton jabbed numerous Republican presidential candidates, including Perry, for working “against voting rights.”
“Here in Texas, former governor Rick Perry signed a law that a federal court said was actually written with a purpose of discriminating against minority voters,” Clinton said during a speech on Thursday. “He applauded when the Voting Rights Act was gutted. And said the lost protections were outdated and unnecessary.”
On “Fox and Friends” Friday morning, Perry said he thinks “it makes sense to have a photo ID to be able to vote.” And he brought up the requirement to present a photo ID in order to fly on commercial airplanes numerous times while defending his voter ID law.
“When I got on the airline to come up here yesterday, I had to show my photo I.D. Now, Hillary Clinton may not to have had to show an ID to get on a airplane in a long time…” he said.
“She’s on a private jet,” Brian Kilmeade, one of the “Fox and Friends” co-hosts, jumped in to say.
Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck then asked Perry if his voter ID law was discriminatory, as Clinton charged.
Perry again brought up needing identification to fly.
“No, not at all. And actually, the people of the state of Texas is who she’s taken on because that was a law that was passed by the people of the state of Texas,” he responded. “She just went into my home state and dissed every person who supports having an identification to either get on an airplane or to vote. It’s highly popular.”
And when asked if he intended to discriminate against minorities with the law requiring a photo ID to vote, Perry said that was not his intention and snuck in one more reference to flying.
“When you look across the state of Texas and you see what we’ve done in that state to really empower minorities. As a matter of fact, the highest high school graduation rate for African-Americans in America is in the state of Texas. The highest Hispanic graduation rate is in Texas. Those are empowerments,” he said. “They want to be protected when they get on an airplane as well.”
Watch the “Fox and Friends” clip below:
Psst…Rick…Flying on an airplane is not a fundamental right granted to all Americans of voting age. Flying on a plane is a contract between a private company and the purchaser of the ticket. And BTW -those glasses aren’t making you smarter.
Does someone need to remind Governor Goodhair that: not everyone flies, drinks liquor, drives or smokes? One would think he’d have paid his hack advisers for a better answer!
Last time I flew, I used my driver’s license as my photo ID. I don’t believe that works in Texas when you go to vote.You have to have a SPECIAL one. Plus, I voted in the only state in the country where they didn’t even have voter REGISTRATION until just a few years ago. They had zero problems with this voter fraud the GOP is all worried about.
Stay in the race, Rick. Stay. In. The. Race. You’re pure comedy gold.
My grandparents did not fly or smoke and they were teetotalers.