In his speech announcing another run at the White House on Thursday former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) wanted to make sure everybody knew: if he becomes president he would immediately “rescind” any deal the Obama administration made with Iran on its nuclear program.
“My very first act as president will be to rescind any agreement with Iran that legitimizes their quest to get a nuclear weapon,” Perry said.
The comment harkens back to Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) letter to Iran’s leaders, signed by 47 Republican senators, meant to undermine the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons negotiations. The letter sparked criticism not only from high profile Democrats like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but also some Republicans. Others, including Perry, expressed support.
Perry is unique among the rest of the 2016 GOP field. He’s the only candidate under indictment. The pending criminal case in Texas alleges Perry illegally threatened to veto funding for a public integrity unit if Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who headed up the unit, did not resign after she was arrested for drunk driving.
Perry’s biggest attack lines in his speech focused on Obama’s handling of the Middle East. He said that “no decision has done more harm than the president’s withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.”
“Let no one be mistaken, leaders of both parties have made grave mistakes in Iraq. But in January 2009 – when Barack Obama became commander-in-chief – Iraq had been largely pacified,” Perry said. “America had won the war. But our president failed to secure the peace.”
After former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said he would have authorized an invasion of Iraq given the available intelligence today, Perry said he would not have done the same thing (Bush would later completely change his answer to this question).
“I think if you look what’s happened today, and the answer is no,” Perry said in an interview with the Texas Tribune. “I mean, with that hindsight, no, I would not have done that.”
