Rick Perry on the Texas Primary, Psychedelics, and His Debate 'Oops' cover art

Rick Perry on the Texas Primary, Psychedelics, and His Debate 'Oops'

Rick Perry on the Texas Primary, Psychedelics, and His Debate 'Oops'

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 Subscribe to GD POLITICS wherever you listen to podcasts. The video version of this interview is available here.My favorite interviews with politicians happen when they’ve run their last race and can reflect candidly on their time in office and the complexities of politics and the world. Today you’re going to hear such an interview with former governor of Texas and former secretary of energy Rick Perry.We begin by talking about the heated Senate primary in Texas. The former governor has thrown his support behind incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and doesn’t shy away from criticisms of Attorney General Ken Paxton or the Democratic side.We then turn to a more personal topic: Perry’s experience with the psychoactive drug ibogaine and his advocacy for its use in treating things like addiction, PTSD, brain trauma, and cognitive decline. It may seem like a counterintuitive position for a social conservative, and we get into that.We end by talking about the moment during the 2012 GOP primary debate when Perry forgot the name of one of the agencies he intended to shutter as president — the Department of Energy. It became something of a viral moment at the time, but in this interview we talk about what was going on in his personal life, which he describes as the most difficult six months of his life.Below are some excerpts, edited for clarity, from our conversation, which took place on Wednesday, February 18.Perry’s Opposition To Ken Paxton In Texas’s Senate RaceGov. Rick Perry: I tell people the Bible’s kind of like a checklist that a pilot would use. I was a pilot in the United States Air Force. So they pounded into us: use the checklist, use the checklist. That will save your life, that will save the people’s lives who are in your airplane. The point is, the Bible is that checklist.So if the Republican Party is gonna be the party of Judeo-Christian values, then having someone who basically has flaunted those rules and regulations, whether it’s standing up in front of God and saying, I will be faithful to you until death do us part, which he obviously failed at, whether it’s eight senior members of his staff, I’m talking about Paxton here, who stood up and said, this guy has broken the laws of the state of Texas and the federal government and we can’t work for you anymore. I mean, that is a damning indictment. Eight of the people, eight of the people who you hired at your senior level.…Perry: I think this is about Texas and what is the Republican primary voter going to decide about the direction that they want the Republican party to be and a reflection of what they want the Republican party to be.Galen Druke: And if Paxton does win in that case, what message does that send? Like, if this is about the future of the Texas Republican Party and Paxton wins, what does that tell you?Perry: Well, from my perspective, I don’t think it’s a good message. I think the idea that the character doesn’t count, I mean, if you want that to be your bumper sticker, good luck.Whether A Paxton Win Could Imperil Republicans’ Hold On TexasPerry: This has been going on for 25 years, since my first run for a full term for governor in 2002. The media was all frothing at the mouth of, you know, ‘We’re going to get the state back into Democrat hands, because they had this little dalliance with this Bush guy. Now he’s gone. And, you know, Perry’s kind of an accidental governor anyway. He just kind of slipped in there as lieutenant governor and then Bush went on to be the president. And so we got Tony Sanchez who’s running, who’s a multi-billionaire or multi-millionaire business guy, oil and gas guy, and he’s going to self-fund, put 80 to a hundred million dollars in it. And we’ll get the state back. We’ve historically been a Democrat state and we’re going to get back to it.’Every election cycle. We hear that every election cycle. That’s true for this one. I’d be very surprised, stunned, even a better word, if the Democrats were able to win a statewide elected position, unless we pick a massively flawed candidate, which potentially could happen here. But my instinct is that it’s not going to happen. John Cornyn will be our nominee and whether they pick a flawed individual as Jasmine Crockett or a flawed individual like Talarico, the Republicans will win.On James Talarico’s Christian FaithDruke: You talked about your Bible study and the importance of the Judeo-Christian faith guiding you in politics as well. Talarico has leaned pretty heavily into his Christian faith in his political appeals. He’s a pastor in training. Do you think there’s anything admirable about Talarico’s approach in that regard?Perry: I would say that he needs to walk into that room where that mirror is and really ask whether or not he can profess a faith in Christianity and support abortions.Druke: And is that really the main sort of sticking point for you?Perry: You asked me, you asked me what my ...
No reviews yet