Chuck Norris endorses Gingrich

Chuck Norris, martial artist and actor best known for 1990s television series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” endorsed Newt Gingrich for president Friday.

“We believe Newt’s experience, leadership, knowledge, wisdom, faith and even humility to learn from his failures (personal and public) can return America to her glory days,” Norris wrote in a column for conservative website World Net Daily, speaking for him and his wife, Gena. “And he is the best man left on the battlefield who is able to outwit, outplay and outlast Obama and his campaign machine.”

Norris also spoke kindly of Ron Paul during a radio interview in May, calling him the most “honest” politician in Washington. But he wrote that he believes his Gingrich is the candidate who best answers a series of 10 questions “to find our next president” he had asked in a previous column.

Norris’s list of requirements included commitment to the Constitution, leadership ability, moral fortitude, electability, fiscal prudence and demonstrated “regard for human life.”

Norris wrote, “For my wife, Gena, and I, we sincerely believe former Speaker Newt Gingrich is the answer to most of those questions and deserves our endorsement and vote.”

He went on to credit Rick Perry, who dropped his bid for the presidency on Thursday, for leading the rally behind Gingrich.

“We agree with our friend and governor of the great state of Texas, Rick Perry, when he suspended his campaign and endorsed Gingrich, that Newt 'has the heart of a conservative reformer,' " Norris wrote.

It was a day of big-name endorsements for Gingrich, who also touted a nod from President Reagan’s son Michael at a campaign event in South Carolina on Friday.

Within the past week, Gingrich has taken the lead in polls of likely voters in the state, which holds its GOP primary on Saturday.