GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry blasted rival Mitt Romney during a Wednesday night appearance on Fox News' "Hannity."
When Sean Hannity asked Perry what he thought of Romney, Perry responded, "He's my competitor. I mean it's like, you know, I would think that, you know, who ever I'm competing against, I'm going to try to beat him. And I'm going to bring up the truth and talk about it." The Texas Governor reiterated his characterization of Romney as a flip-flopper. "The issue is, you know, he changes his positions," explained Perry. He continued, "You know, Americans want a consistent president. You may not agree with him on everything, but don't change your positions by whatever office you're running for."
Romney is punching back at Perry's criticisms. On Tuesday, the former Massachusetts governor released an ad targeting Perry entitled "Governor Perry: An Inspiration To Liberal California":
In the ad, Perry, who is fundraising in California today, is seen across from the state's Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, while a number of positions that "liberals in California" supposedly got from Perry flash across the screen.
Perry was the "first to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants" and "approved taxpayer-funded state aid for illegal immigrants attending college," the ad charges, referencing some of the provisions that Perry signed in the Texas DREAM Act.
Brown signed measures of the California DREAM Act earlier this year, first making funding from private sources available to undocumented students, then allowing them to apply for state-funded financial aid for college.
During the interview with Hannity, Perry stated, "As the president of the United States, I am against the Dream Act." He also pledged that "When I'm the president, that border will be secure."
In addition to the flip-flopper charge, Perry repeated another attack line during the interview, going after Romney for using a lawn care company that employed undocumented workers. "I do think it was very, you know, bad policy and bad politics for him to hire illegal aliens, and then talk to me who has done more to deal with this issue than anybody on that stage," said Perry.
Perry criticized his own debate performances during the interview, saying, "Frankly I didn't have time to prepare for those debates. Obviously it showed." He also stated, "I hate debates." Perry elaborated with some harsh words about President Obama. "We got a great debater in the White House. A slick politician and our country is really paying a great price for that," said Perry.
Fellow competitor and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain also came up during Perry's exchange with Hannity. Perry explained, "I think Herman Cain is a very likeable individual in a personal way."
Perry's description of Cain contrasts with the ongoing war of words currently raging between the two campaigns. The Cain campaign accused Curt Anderson, a Perry adviser who had previously worked on an unsuccessful 2004 Cain Senate bid, of leaking details that led to a Politico story about sexual harassment allegations leveled at Cain. Anderson denied the charge. Mark Block, Cain's Chief of Staff, appeared on Fox News Wednesday night and stated, "The actions of the Perry campaign are despicable." Block also said he "absolutely" believes that Perry's camp was behind the leak that led to the initial Politico story. The Perry campaign accused Cain and Block of "reckless and false" behavior.