Rick Perry: ‘I’m More Jewish Than You Think I Am’

Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to reporters following a fund-raising breakfast for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Thursday, May 29, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) recently broke bread with The New York Times Magazine’s Mark Liebovitch at a Jewish deli in Beverly Hills.

“I’m more Jewish than you think I am,” he told Leibovitch over a corned-beef Reuben. “I read the part of the Bible that said the Jews are God’s chosen people.”

Liebovitch caught up with Perry during the governor’s recent trip to California for a story published Tuesday, which delves into the governor’s presidential aspirations and his tendency to gaffe that could derail them. Just last week, Perry raised eyebrows when he compared being gay to being an alcoholic at an event in San Francisco.

Of that other infamous “Oops” moment from the 2012 presidential campaign trail, when he failed to name a third government agency he’d abolish, Perry told Liebovitch “Ron Paul walked up and said: ‘I’ve done that before. But I’ve never done it in front of four million people.'”

If he decides to forego a second presidential bid and all the scrutiny that comes with it, Perry told Liebovitch he just might move to California when his third and final term as governor ends in January. Until then he’s meeting with policy experts and attending economic forums, all in the name of becoming a “better person” — perhaps the type of person that voters could get behind in 2016.

Read the whole thing here.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. I’m more black than you think I am. I read Roots!

    Oh, also, I love that he can’t wait to get out of Texas – like any other right thinking person.

  2. Heh heh. No, you’re not.

  3. Rick Perry is about as Jewish as a ham & cheese sandwich with mayo on white with a large glass of 2% milk to wash it down.

  4. Yeah, I doubt Perry can even become a HMOT

  5. Wait, wasn’t Perry’s state running TV ads in California trying to get people to move to Texas? Now he wants to move to California first chance he gets?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

107 more replies

Participants

Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for jeffgee1 Avatar for sooner Avatar for 365daysofhorror Avatar for matthew1961 Avatar for msaroff Avatar for eda Avatar for clemmers Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for sergeant2 Avatar for navamske Avatar for krusher Avatar for msny Avatar for crackerjack Avatar for fourlegsgood Avatar for pshipkey Avatar for phillydave Avatar for mike2 Avatar for 538liberal Avatar for darrtown Avatar for occamsrazor2 Avatar for liberaldemocrat Avatar for jinnj Avatar for antisachetdethe

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: