Rick Perry Interview: Texas Governor Addresses Secession Issue (VIDEO)

During an interview on Fox News on Wednesday night, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry was asked about the issue of secession.

In 2009, the Texas governor declined to rule out the possibility the Lone Star State could secede from the union. The Fort-Worth Star Telegram reported on what Perry had to say at the time at a Tea Party rally:

He said the federal government has gone somewhat astray from what our founders wanted and he believes the federal government is choking Americans with excessive spending and taxation.

And although Perry made it clear he doesn't see the need to secede and isn't advocating for that, he said there's no question that's on the mind of some Texans. That was obvious at Tea Parties around the state, where "Secede" was a popular slogan on signs.

"We've got a great union," said Perry at the event, according to CNN. "There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

On Wednesday night, Perry said he "never used" the term "secession" in discussing the matter and added that he has "no idea" why any report would suggest otherwise.

During the interview, the Texas governor also sought to clarify his position on Social Security. The presidential contender has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks after repeatedly using harsh language to define where he stands on the issue. From characterizing the program as a "Ponzi scheme" to a "monstrous lie," Perry hasn't held back in communicating his stance.

“That’s the old tactic that the Democrats used back through the years to try to scare the senior citizens," he said one night before Thursday's GOP primary debate in Florida. “If anyone on that stage that’s a Republican and wants to be a Republican nominee is trying to scare our seniors with this issue, that somehow or another I’m going to do away with Social Security, that’s just not appropriate. It’s irresponsible.”

Below, a clip of what Perry had to say on Fox News.

WATCH:

Comments

[Myles Huff]

01:44 AM on 09/28/2011

Take the cowboys with ya!

[morbius]

12:36 AM on 09/25/2011

Hey Rick. I'm PRAYING that you'll secede. Hurry up, will you?

[mhcw]

07:11 PM on 09/23/2011

Wait a minute. Let's think about this. What if all of the right wingnuts moved to the country of Texas? And what if we (the United States) decided to take down the radical ruler of Texas? And we send in our troops and ...

[MekhongKurt]

03:45 AM on 09/23/2011

Okay. Now he's reversing course on secession and Social Security. He owes it to the Tea Partyers thirsting for secession the truth, and all older people their Social Security will be safe in his hands. In the latter case, he'll also need to explain why he apparently plans to leave them unprotected victims of a program he has damned as a Ponzi scheme, a monstrous lie. I guess that means if he DOES win he'll ignore the part of his oath swearing to protect us from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. Tea Partyers and older folks should flee -- at light speed. He says -- nbow -- he won't help or protect you.

[dannywanny]

11:03 PM on 09/22/2011

Get real! Texas won't secede. The state couldn't exist without the tens of billions of dollars in federal funding and subsidies it gets every year.

[KrazyJay]

10:08 PM on 09/22/2011

That man could sell cane sugar at a molasses convention. For a conservative, his "mini-dream act", wanting the state to seize hundreds of thousands of acres for his NAFTA highway, and his actually quite awesome HPV vaccine initiative ... he's pushed through a more liberal agenda than Barack Obama.

You can take the guy out of the Democratic Party, but you can't ever take the democrat out of the guy ...

Go get 'em Perry! You're what small-government conservatism is all about! (wink, wink)

[colah]

07:18 PM on 09/22/2011

I heard that Rick Perrys hair is a Fonzi scheme.

[bungerman]

06:57 PM on 09/22/2011

The intellectually curious founders would laugh til their powdered wigs fell off if they saw the "candidates" we parade around today.

[xscd]

05:14 PM on 09/22/2011

Unless Rick Perry learns how to be a two-faced liar like other politicians, his big mouth is going to get him into trouble.

[blinkthink]

06:59 PM on 09/22/2011

Oh, he does that already. He just jams both feet in his mouth regularly because he just can't stop.

[dannywanny]

11:04 PM on 09/22/2011

And for some reason, Texans eat it up. Doesn't say much for the intellectual quotient of the state.

[bungalowbill1]

04:57 PM on 09/22/2011

I'm sure there were people who stood on the smoking ruins of their civilizations, Mayan, Egyptian, Roman for example, beating their breasts & screaming WE ARE THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD !

[dannywanny]

11:08 PM on 09/22/2011

Brings to mind the poem, Ozymandias, by the English poet, Percy Shelly.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

[12Purple]

04:57 PM on 09/22/2011

Way to backpedal dude. What happened - did one of your accounts come tell you how much Federal Texas would miss out on if the state seceded?

[bjammin]

04:29 PM on 09/22/2011

And yet Republicans still have to gall to suggest Obama is less patriotic than Perry. Shameful.

[blinkthink]

07:05 PM on 09/22/2011

Did you hear Perry insert his mindless drivel-schtick into the sensitive Israel/Palestian crisis? He is the mouth that never quits criticizing that which he knows nothing about. Nothing patriotic about this wannabe.

[Rob Huggins]

04:29 PM on 09/22/2011

I don't think secession is as uncommon a notion as people think. I dated a girl who had a county named after her family and a long history in Texas. To hear them tell history, you'd think America was graciously allowed to join the great country of Texas and that grace could be taken back.

When I lived in Hawaii, I met quite a few people unhappy with what America provided. Most of the islands don't get treated like states, and there is a huge poverty and education problem. No child left behind made things even worse as it didn't address the problem of kids not having consistant education from elementary to high school. Many kids were at drastically different levels of education, and there wasn't enough money to address the issue. Many had stories of how the Mormons stole the islands for America and secession was a common topic.

My sister dated a boy from a Russian heritage in Alaska. His family seemed to take more pride in their Russian heritage than their American citizenship. The mother smoke pot, and was greatly distressed when her son insisted she didn't bring it with her to visit. She had a mentality that the US had no rights to control her. She came from a place where they make thier own rules, and the US government means little.

It may sound crazy, but there are people that back this mentality, ecspecially in those three states.

[KrazyJay]

10:12 PM on 09/22/2011

Well, I could certainly understand the Russian-Alaskan missing the libertine values of Czarist Russia. Must have been a culture shock to have so many liberties ripped away in that historic bill of sale.

[texasdetainee]

04:10 PM on 09/22/2011

It's interesting how Perry talks about, and S. Vanity doesn't disagree with, giving "options" to Americans regarding S.S. Why were they so against those options regarding health care in the form of a public option? I'll tell you why. It's because a social security option would be going from public to private while the health care option would have gone from private to public. Republicans want to privatize everything in America - to include education, health care, social security, and national defense. They insist on making every aspect of American life a for-profit venture with as little government intervention as possible.

The writing is on the wall, people. Government is by and for the people, while the GOP is for "Privatization". They collectively fight for the right of individuals to amass wealth at the expense of any and everyone but themselves. A true conservative will argue that this is a free enterprise, capitalistic society and thus should allow for individuals to amass wealth. While this sounds great at face value, the problem is in the output. The wealthiest 1% of American families owns approximately 34% of the nation's wealth. The top 10% owns over 71%, and the bottom 40% of the population owns less than 1%. GOP policies of privatization will only bolster these dismal facts.

[IKnowEverythingThereIs]

03:53 PM on 09/22/2011

Rick Perry once again proves his mettle. He takes a strong, confident stance in everything he does and every issue he speaks on. He has an intelligence that is transcendant and can lead this country in the right direction. Rick Perry for 2012.

[biskitdaddy]

03:57 PM on 09/22/2011

He wants Texas to secede from the Union; I say let's get a giant chain saw and cut it right off.

[Gabe Kranjcar]

04:12 PM on 09/22/2011

DCI’s “Rating of the States” recently reported that the Lone Star State leads the country in the Best State for Business rating. Companies like AT&T, American Airlines, DELL, Exxon Mobile already reside there so If thing like that would happened all of the major business companies will relocate to Texas (where income tax is equal to 0).
I think The Lone Star State is probably the last state that Union is gonna want to lose

[bjammin]

04:30 PM on 09/22/2011

Sounds like Perry has the robot-poster vote sewn up.