Oops: The Top 10 Perry Gaffes

perry-gaffes

• PERRY GAFFES—turkey

  "Well obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then yes, not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong to be in NATO but it's time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it." — Jan. 16.2012. The gaffe-train goes international. Perry's remark provokes a response from both the Turkish government and the U.S. State Department. Good times.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—supremecourt

  "When you see his appointment of two, from my perspective, inarguably activist judges whether it was .... Not Montemayor ...[six-second silence]." —Dec. 9, 2011. Sotomayor was the name Perry was searching for. This was a twofer. Not only did Perry forget U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's name in a meeting with the Des Moines Register editorial board, but a short time later referred to the "eight" justices on the High Court. He didn't get the paper's endorsement.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—revolution

  "Our Founding Fathers never meant for Washington, D.C., to be the fount of all wisdom. As a matter of fact they were very much afraid of that because they'd just had this experience with this far-away government that had centralized thought process and planning and what have you, and then it was actually the reason that we fought the revolution in the 16th century was to get away from that kind of onerous crown if you will." —Oct. 11, 2011. Perry said this at a fraternity house following a debate at Dartmouth. Our centralized thought process tells us the American Revolution was fought in the 18th century. Hey, he only missed it by 200 years. No biggie.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perryad

  "You don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but out kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in schools." —Dec. 7, 2011. The ultimate non-sequiter. Perry goes after Obama's "war on religion" in an odious television ad aimed at Iowa evangelicals. It quickly becomes the second-most disliked posting ever on YouTube, behind only a Justin Bieber video.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perry15

  "I think Americans don't know sometimes which Mitt Romney they're dealing with. Is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of...against the Second Amendment before he was for the Second Amendment? Was it was before he was before the social programs, from the standpoint of he was for standing up for Roe versus Wade before he was against versus, uh, Roe versus Wade? He was for Race to the Top. He's for Obamacare and now he's against it." —Sept. 22, 2011. Unfortunately for Perry, this quote, from the GOP debate in Orlando, is transcribed verbatim. This is exactly what he said.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perry14

  "If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous, er treasonous in my opinion." —Aug. 15, 2011. REsponding to a question about the Fed in Iowa, Perry, just two days in the race, seems to threaten Fed Chair Ben Bernake with bodily harm, then accuses him of treachery or treason or both.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perry13

  "But if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart." —Sept. 22, 2011. Asked about in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants at a GOP debate, Perry doesn't just disagree with anti-immigration hardliners, he insults them. Liberals loved this comment—not a good sign in a GOP primary.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perry11

  "This is such a cool state. I mean, come on, 'live free or die.' You know, you gotta love that, right!? I come from a state where they have this little place called the Alamo, and they declared 'victory or death.' You know, we're kind of into those slogans, man. It's like, live free or die! Victory or death! Bring it!" —Oct. 28, 2011. Perry's infamous drunken/stoned/Percocet-induced speech in New Hampshire in which the candidate did a spot-on imitation of a grinning Rick Perry bobble-head doll.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perry9

  "Oops." —Nov. 9, 2011. The epitaph for the campaign. A Google search for "Rick Perry" and "Oops" now returns 3.14 million hits.
  

• PERRY GAFFES—perry5

  "What we need to be focused on in this country today is not whether or not we are going to have this policy or that policy. What we need to be focused on is how we get Americans working again. That's where we need to be focused." —Oct. 11. At a debate on economic issues (supposedly his strength), Perry refuses to offer any specifics about his yet-to-be released jobs plan. He also manages to look passive and weak despite sitting at a table with both Mitt Romney and Charlie Rose.