Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who called Donald Trump’s candidacy a “cancer on conservatism” last year, said Tuesday he trusts Mr. Trump more than Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to make a Supreme Court pick.
“Well, I love my country, first off, and that’s the reason I got in this presidential election to begin with,” Mr. Perry said on CNN’s “New Day.” “Donald Trump wasn’t my first choice. I was my first choice. Donald Trump wasn’t my second choice. That was Ted Cruz.
“But we are down to two individuals here. I mean, it’s pretty clear to me that it is a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Perry said.
“And I clarify down and keep it pretty simple — is when you think about what’s going to happen over the next four years, what has the possibility and probability of impacting America for the next 40 or 50 years, and it’s the Supreme Court,” he said.
“And I’m a lot more comfortable with Donald Trump choosing an individual to be on the Supreme Court that’s going to affect policies that my children are going to be affected by than Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Perry said. “That’s what it really boiled down to for me.”
Congressional Republicans have said they do not plan to hold hearings or a vote this year on Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s choice to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Mr. Perry was one of the first of Mr. Trump’s GOP rivals to directly take him on, calling the billionaire businessman’s candidacy a “cancer on conservatism” in a blistering speech last year. The former Texas governor ended up suspending his own presidential campaign in September.
“I will say that during the heat of battle a lot of people say things,” Mr. Perry said Tuesday. “As I recall, back in 2011, 2012, there were people that said things about me. I said things about them, whether it was Mitt Romney or whether it was Rick Santorum, but we came together after it was all over with.
“Anyone who pays attention to American politics … [knows] that there are things that are said that after you get your intramurals over with, you get back together and you support the team, and that’s what’s going on here,” he said.
“I full well expect the Republican party to fall in behind Donald Trump to help him get elected because, again, the alternative here is very, very different,” he said.
Some of Mr. Trump’s former GOP rivals, such as Mr. Perry and former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have recently said they’ll now support him. Mr. Trump’s final two Republican rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, announced last week they were suspending their campaigns.
“He wasn’t my first, second, or third choice for president,” Mr. Jindal said on Fox News Tuesday. “Sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two bad choices. He will be better than Hillary Clinton.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, also former rivals, had both previously endorsed Mr. Trump. The Trump campaign announced Monday that Mr. Christie will head Mr. Trump’s transition team.
But others, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have said recently they won’t vote for Mr. Trump.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.