Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) isn’t saying no to launching another presidential campaign.
Perry, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016, was asked by CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday whether he thought former President Trump should be the Republican nominee in 2024.
“You know, I’m still trying to sort that out for myself,” Perry told Acosta. “So, you know, he may get to hear me call him names again. Who knows? It’s still early in the process, so I haven’t written off that — you know, if you’ll recall, I didn’t announce for president in 2011 until August. So we got a lot of time left.”
Perry referred to Trump as a “cancer on conservatism” ahead of the 2016 election, but he then joined the Trump administration as energy secretary.
Trump, who faces a slew of legal battles and federal investigations against him, announced his third bid to run for president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in November.
When Acosta asked Perry whether he was considering launching his own presidential campaign, he said the chances were “slim.”
“Listen, it’s early in the process. I think for any of us to sit back and say, I’m for this person or that person, is a little early in my process,” Perry told Acosta.
“So, you know, it certainly is something that I haven’t taken off the table, but, you know, the chances of it happening are probably a little bit slim,” Perry added. “But who knows? There’s a lot of time left, and we’ll see how this all works out.”
If he were to run again, Perry would join a field of hopefuls that includes former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and conservative investor Vivek Ramaswamy.