Texas governor Rick Perry went after fellow GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Tuesday night, accusing the Republican front-runner of saying whatever was politically expedient to get elected.
In response to a question about whether there was strain between the two men, Perry said he felt Romney changed his stance on a number of major issues.
"You can't be for banning guns and then all of a sudden you're, you know, for the Second Amendment," Perry said. "You can't be for the issue of abortion, then you're pro-life... I mean you can't be on both sides of these issues."
Perry quoted what he said were Romney's own words about why he'd changed sides on certain topics. "In his own words, he says, listen, you know, I need to say whatever I need to say for whatever office I'm running for."
Romney has recently pushed back against charges of flip-flopping, telling a New Hampshire crowd last month, "In the private sector, if you don't change your view when the facts change, well you'll get fired for being stubborn and stupid."
O'Reilly pressed Perry on whether he thought it was valid for people's opinions to change over time.
"Some people are okay with people evolving and some people aren't," O'Reilly said. "Do you respect the evolution that the governor might have gone through?"
Perry dismissed the idea.
"How do you change at the age of 50 or 60 positions on life, positions on guns, positions on traditional marriage," he said. "I mean those aren't minor issues, Bill. So to change those at the age of 50 or 60 tells you all you need to know about that."