Rick Perry Endorses Ted Cruz: ‘He Means What He Says He Means’

“You gotta hit the mule upside the head to get its attention from time to time.”

Rick Perry says he has looked past Ted Cruz‘s reputation after the Tea Party Senator took time to sit down with him, and decided to endorse his fellow Texan for president. Perry, who unsuccessfully ran for president twice, was the longest-serving governor in Lone Star State history. 

“You’ll have with Ted Cruz that same result of, senators and others in the Washington establishment that are mad at him, find him to be hard to work with, they will find a way to work with him because they know he means what he says he means,” Perry told Politico.

The former Texas governor’s endorsement comes on the heels of Glenn Beck‘s endorsement of Cruz this weekend.

Perry, who says the race is now between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, was forced to walk back prior criticisms of Cruz in order to endorse him, including his lack of experience as a first-term senator. 

WATCH: Ted Cruz’s Goals Haven’t Changed Since He Was 18, As This Unearthed Video From 1988 Shows

“Gov. Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Jeb’s barely making an impact out there — those are very skilled, very successful, very experienced governors,” Perry said. “But the electorate doesn’t want that. That’s why we have elections, why we democratically select leaders.”

The 65-year old who is still facing a felony charge for “abuse of official capacity,” had warned of placing “purity ahead of unity” in his farewell speech to the Texas Legislature, a dig against Cruz who infamously worked to shut the federal government down in 2013. But he told Politico of an “old adage, ‘You gotta hit the mule upside the head to get its attention from time to time.’ I’d suggest that’s exactly what the senator was doing.”

UPDATE: 
Perry just appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

 

EARLIER:

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Ted Cruz Apologizes To ‘Millions Of New Yorkers Who Have Been Let Down By Liberal Politicians’

 

Image by Governor Rick Perry via Flickr and a CC license