Perry's "Accident" Incident
From the Texas Trubune
From the Texas Trubune
- by Patrick Svitek
- June 19, 2015
The one presidential candidate who
cannot make a mistake did just that Friday.
Addressing Wednesday's massacre at a
South Carolina church, former Gov. Rick Perry referred to it as an
"accident." His campaign quickly clarified that he meant
"incident," but not before the apparent slip of the tongue sparked a
social media backlash, inviting inevitable comparisons to the so-called
"oops" moment that defined Perry's last bid for the White House.
The comment came during a TV
interview in which Perry was asked about President Obama's response to the
shooting, which left nine people dead at the historically black church in
Charleston. In a speech Thursday, Obama suggested more gun control might be
necessary to prevent tragedies like it.
"This is the M.O. of this
administration anytime there is a accident like this," Perry told
Newsmax's Steve Malzberg in an interview published Friday. "You know, the
president's clear. He doesn't like for Americans to have guns, and so he uses
every opportunity, this being another one, to basically go parrot that
message."
Shortly after Perry's remark began
making headlines and ricocheting around social media, spokesman Travis
Considine indicated the former governor misspoke. "From the context of his
comments, it is clear Gov. Perry meant incident," Considine said in a
statement.
But the sound bite had already
become a hot topic online, evoking memories of the 2012 debate where Perry was
unable to remember the third federal agency he would eliminate if elected
president.
In the Newsmax interview, Perry
spoke extensively about the shooting, saying he did not know whether it was an
act of terror but did know it was a "crime of hate." He also
suggested the alleged shooter, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, may have been
"medicated," apparently tying the issue to his campaign's outreach to
current and former members of the military.
"I know for a fact, being a
substantial supporter of our military and our veterans, that the Veterans
Administration, for instance, is handing out these opioids in massive
amounts," Perry told Malzberg. "And then people question, 'Well then
why can't these young individuals get work?' or 'Why is the suicide rate so
high?'"
Perry was also asked whether the
Confederate flag should fly over the South Carolina Capitol in the aftermath of
the shooting, which many consider racially motivated. In his response, Perry
reminded Malzberg that the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Texas has the
right to refuse to issue Confederate license plates, a decision with which he
agrees. And Perry indicated he would be open to taking down the flag in South
Carolina, saying, "Maybe there's a good conversation that needs to be
had."
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