Rick Perry Calls Washington 'A Seedy Place' In Interview (AUDIO)

During an interview on the Laura Ingraham radio show on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry characterized the nation's capital as a "seedy place."

"Look, I am not an establishment figure, never have been and frankly I don't want to be," said the Texas governor. "I dislike Washington."

Former president Bill Clinton recently jabbed Perry over his posture toward the country's capital city.

“He’s saying ‘Oh, I’m going to Washington to make sure that the federal government stays as far away from you as possible -- while I ride on Air Force One and that Marine One helicopter and go to Camp David and travel around the world and have a good time,'" he said while speaking at a fire fighter’s conference in the Big Apple, according to the New York Observer. "I mean, this is crazy."

Since announcing his candidacy for president of the United States, Perry has captured headlines with questionable remarks he's made on the trail. The Republican contender drew criticism from both sides of the aisle when he suggested it would be "almost treasonous" for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to print more money to boost the economy. While speaking in the Hawkeye State he said, "I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas."

After sparking controversy with the remarks, Perry stood by his choice of words. During a stop in New Hampshire, he said, however, "I got in trouble talking about the Federal Reserve" and added, "I got lectured about that."

On Thursday Perry said, "With all due respect to anybody that's out there either directly or indirectly criticizing me because I speak plainly, I call it like I see it."

Below, audio of what the Texas governor had to say on the Laura Ingraham radio show.

LISTEN:

Comments

[sjj734]

02:35 AM on 08/29/2011

I don't want to go there, that's why I'm spending all this time, effort, and money to get elected. What utter BS.

[TheHeartland]

07:09 PM on 08/28/2011

They all say they hate government, then they become part of it and do terrible things to constituents. Why not elect people that believe in the American government and want it to function for the people?

[buddycats]

03:08 PM on 08/28/2011

For being a "plain Speaker" he seems to make some odd comments. GWB was a plain speaker as I recall....lmao.

[buddycats]

03:07 PM on 08/28/2011

It is odd then that Perry wants so much to live in such a seedy place! Let's help him stay away from DC!

[TJ Logan]

01:11 PM on 08/28/2011

And what about Austen, the Capitol of Texas? Talk about politically corrupt, financially incompetent, and seedy - that's the capitol of Texas. In fact that's all of Texas.

TEXAS

1) 49th in teacher pay
2) 1st in the percentage of people over 25 without a high school diploma
3) 41st in high school graduation rate
4) 46th in SAT scores
5) 1st in percentage of uninsured children
6) 1st in percentage of population uninsured
7) 1st in percentage of non-elderly uninsured
8) 3rd in percentage of people living below the poverty level
9) 49th in average Women Infant and Children benefit payments
10) 1st in teenage birth rate
11) 50th in average credit scores for loan applicants
12) 1st in air pollution emissions
13) 1st in volume of volatile organic compounds released into the air
14) 1st in amount of toxic chemicals released into water
15) 1st in amount of recognized cancer-causing carcinogens released into air
16) 1st in amount of carbon dioxide emissions
17) 50th in homeowners' insurance affordability
18) 50th in percentage of voting age population that votes
19) 1st in annual number of executions
20) Number 27 in unemployment rankings – some miracle!

[hartyub]

08:32 AM on 08/31/2011

One consolation is that if Perry does get the Republican nomination, you can bet the opponents are going to pull the stops out on all the issues you outlined! Perry is the King of Seeds......Austin has been his garden.

[NYC619]

11:53 AM on 08/28/2011

Gov. Just for Men has "seedy" eyes and a "seedy" face, he also has "seedy" ideas to complete his motif.

[diamonds61]

11:06 PM on 08/27/2011

Texas spends the least per child in the school system; it also has an extremely high drop out rate and has the most people without medical insurance and has the hightest percentage of people living in poverty. Perry still claims that he has created more jobs in the 10 years he has been governor, but he doesn't tell the truth about how many of these so called jobs pay minimum wage. Most of the jobs are also held to 39 hours or less so the workers will not be eligible for benefits. Bob Perry, one of the governor's huge financial supporters is a giant homebuilder; he uses Mexican immigrants (coincidentally he also arranges to have their workers' visa extended as long as he needs them). Why doesn't Bob Perry hired Americans and create more jobs in Texas. It is obvious he wants to use cheap labor and harvest more profit. Rick Perry has the audacity to say that Washington, D.C. is a seedy place; how would he know what a seedy place looks like unless he hangs out in dives and down and dirty saloons!!! The rich in Texas are prospering and the hard workers and the poor are struggling and suffering just because Rick Perry doesn't care. If he doesn't care about ALL THE PEOPLE IN TEXAS, why would people think that he cares about ALL THE PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY!!!!!

[hearmeloudandclear]

03:41 AM on 08/28/2011

diamonds61 - And why does Ricky want to move to that "seedy" - Washington?

Your most informative input paints a clear picture of a person merely seeking more power and influence. Clearly his concerns are NOT about ALL the people of Texas -- therefore it stands to reason that his conerns and interests would not be about ALL the American people.

Tell Ricky he can still keep his rich friends happy while remaining in Texas - he doesn't need to go to "seedy" Washington - - and in all actuality - - after people are familiar with Ricky's story -- HE WON'T BE GOING to Washington ANYWAY.

[Gaspar Ramsey]

10:00 PM on 08/27/2011

Perry is like a boxer, bobbing and weaving...no, wait, the only weave is that Trump-like creature on his head.

[Jeff Bunting]

09:38 PM on 08/27/2011

So this is the guy some progressives are going to vote for to get back at Obama for not supporting what they want enough... I see...

[LeftCoastEng]

05:44 PM on 08/27/2011

Typical for the blame American government first crowd.

[pakaal]

03:01 PM on 08/27/2011

More and more hokey every day. "I don't wanna go, y'all, but if I'm called, I shall serve!"

Spare us the Mister Smith goes to Washington shtick, coming from you that dog SURE don't hunt.

[PickOneTwoThree]

01:46 PM on 08/27/2011

"I am not an establishment figure" - said by the Governor of Texas for 10 years?

And Washington is not nearly as 'seedy' as it would be if Governor Perry were to move there.

[Gaspar Ramsey]

09:25 PM on 08/27/2011

Amen to that.

[erikqj]

01:30 PM on 08/27/2011

"With all due respect to anybody that's out there either directly or indirectly criticizing me because I speak plainly, I call it like I see it."

Good to know. When Rick Perry threatens a government official, there's no use taking time to ask if he really meant it, or if it was a rhetorical tool. Just take the plain and simple explanation, and arrest him. He can't run around like a one-man Al Qaeda, threatening high profile potential terrorist targets, and expect not to be hauled in.

[JasonTromm]

01:09 PM on 08/27/2011

Any Republican consultant who calls Rick Perry an idiot is probably someone who worked on an opponents campaign at some time in the past. They're afraid if Perry gets the nomination they're going to be locked out of the lobbying business for four years because Rick has a memory like an elephant.

[lizt]

08:53 AM on 08/29/2011

Naaah...they just call it like they see it.

[kinogod]

11:59 AM on 08/27/2011

Yes, Perry winning the white house would make it a seedy place indeed!