Rick Perry Tapped to Lead Department of Energy (An Agency He Wanted to Eliminate)
After it was reported last night that President-elect Donald Trump had decided on former Texas Governor Rick Perry to be his Secretary of Energy, the New York Times and Associated Press confirmed that Perry would indeed be the selection.
Perry tossed his hat into the presidential ring in both the 2012 and 2016 races, only to come up well short both times. In fact, one of the reasons his 2012 race failed was due to a GOP debate performance where he was unable to name the Department of Energy when trying to highlight three federal agencies he wanted to eliminate.
During this most recent GOP primary, Perry was an early Trump critic, focusing a speech on how destructive he felt the real estate mogul was to conservatism. However, after struggling to gain any traction and dropping out of the race, Perry eventually came around on Trump and endorsed him.
Considering that Perry will now head up a department he wanted to eliminate back in 2011, there was the expected level of reaction on Twitter.
It’s comical to see Trump put Rick Perry at the head of a dept that he wished to eliminate. Comical because hey government doesn’t matter!
— Touré (@Toure) December 13, 2016
Trump not taking security briefings but meeting with Kanye West as he appoints Rick Perry 2 head a department he wants to end. Anyone care?
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) December 13, 2016
Energy sec. nominee Rick Perry knows 3 things about global warming: It's a hoax, he's not a scientist, and…we forget https://t.co/FFYdAXSm1k
— Jeremy Schulman (@jeremyschulman) December 13, 2016
Rick Perry at the end of 2011 and Rick Perry at the end of 2016 pic.twitter.com/FnJTMwCtvO
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 13, 2016
[image via screengrab]
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