Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, looking to bounce back from a recent debate gaffe, doubled down in his own defense Thursday by admitting debating is not his strength.
“If we’re electing the debater in chief, don’t elect me,” the Texas governor said on Fox News, repeating his previous criticism of President Obama, whom he calls a “great debater.”
Earlier in the day, on conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham’s show, Perry called President Obama “sleek as a mink."
Perry stayed on message in his latest appearance, part of a media blitz Thursday following a debate misstep the previous night in which he forgot the third federal agency he plans to eliminate as president.
He acknowledged the extended stumble was “brutal.” Perry laughed it off Thursday, however, turning it into a joke on his website and Twitter feed.
“I hope they don't lose the feed before the third question!” Perry tweeted when announcing the Fox interview. In a follow-up tweet, he used the hashtag “#forgetmenot.”
Perry’s website also offered visitors the chance to vote on the question: "What part of the federal government would you like to forget about the most?”
Perry quickly pivoted from humor back to his policy positions in the Fox interview, however, focusing on his record as governor.
“I don’t think you have to be particularly nimble when you look at the number of jobs that are being destroyed by the economy,” he said, attributing “absolute economic turmoil” to Obama.
“People understand, you make mistakes,” he said, adding jobs are the most important issue to most voters and he has a record of job creation as longtime Texas governor.
“I think I can take it to President Obama on any given day,” he said.
