Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) offered a critical assessment of some of the problems with his last presidential run.
“I wasn’t healthy. You all know the health stories — it was what it was,” Perry said in front of reporters in Souix City, Iowa, according to an NPR report published on Tuesday. Perry has taken steps toward running for the White House again and is expected to formally jump into the race on June 4 in Dallas.
During a 2012 GOP debate in Rochester, Michigan, Perry struggled to name the three federal agencies he would cut if elected president.
“The third agency of government I would do away with —the Education, the uh, the Commerce, and let’s see. I can’t find the third one. I can’t,” Perry said during the debate. “Sorry, oops.”
Later in the cycle, aides to Perry said that the governor suffered from severe back pains and depended on painkillers to make it through the debates, which seemed to have affected his debate performances.
Perry also conceded he hadn’t appropriately prepared for a presidential run.
“The other was in preparation and just spending the time on all the issues that are important to a person that’s gonna stand up and answer their questions there,” Perry said. “And it’s across the board: economics, domestic policy, monetary policy, foreign policy.”
