New Hampshire Republicans to defend Perry speech
Portsmouth, New Hampshire (CNN) - A group of un-aligned New Hampshire Republican officials plan a Thursday press conference to defend a much-derided speech given by Texas Gov. Rick Perry late last week, CNN has learned.
Two-time Congressional candidate Jennifer Horn of We the People, which has organized a series of forums with presidential candidates including Perry, will speak at the press conference, she told CNN Wednesday.
State House Speaker Bill O'Brien will also participate, Horn said.
The event comes in response to media attention following Perry's keynote speech to the Cornerstone Action annual dinner Friday in Manchester, N.H. An edited clip reel of Perry's speech - which struck some as being overly enthusiastic - has circulated on social media and cable news.
Thursday's speakers have not endorsed Perry, but they feel coverage of the speech has become a distraction from serious issues on the trail, Horn said.
The speakers attended the event last Friday.
"We're in the middle of a really important presidential primary and there's no place for this sort of stuff," Horn said. "This is part of protecting the integrity of the primary process."
The edited clips of Perry show him joking with the audience.
Horn batted down rumors that Perry might have been under the influence.
"There was nothing about his behavior on the stage or off the stage to suggest he was under the influence," she said.
The press conference will take place at 2 p.m. ET in Manchester, Horn said.
Some individuals who were at the event have already spoken up separately on Perry's behalf.
Kevin Smith, who organized the event for Cornerstone, said Perry was well-received by the audience.
"They saw a side of him they hadn't seen yet," he said. "It was very relaxed and very loose, and they seemed to warm up to him pretty quickly."
Smith said some of the audience members have been surprised by the media's reactions to the speech.
"People saw a different side of Rick Perry that the haven't seen before," he said.
The liberal media painted a totally concocted picture of that speech, and they did it deliberately, to try and make the candidate look bad.
Thanks ABC, NBC, and CNN.......for more dishonest reporting.
Under the Influence
There was absolutely nothing in those bizarre mannerism that could convince any well thinking American that Perry was sober. Most people saw someone who was either intoxicated or had too much marijuana. There's no defense for such a comedic speech when the republican primary is at this serious stage and people are looking for someone serious to rally behind.
Perry was not his normal self...something bizarre was going on inside of him, whatever that was he certainly was under the influence of something! Could we make such a big mistake as to elect this clown to represent us as president?
Can any republican win their own primary? Maybe none of the above will win. The former governor of Utah is the only person in this group that actually thinks and according to polls has no chance. How about nominating the one with the
least amount of votes! Let the tea party be their own group. At least then repubs might save some of whatever dignity the may have left. You sold your soul to clowns to try and be in the spotlight. Now you are and it's pretty sad.
We could see in newsreels that Perry was acting weird. I think he thot he could be casual, cool, and funny....he wasn't. He's just not use to the 'big time'. Down on the farm or with the macho oil locals, he's OK, but there are 49 OTHER states that need representation too !
The "different side of Rick Perry" is hilarious.
Perry says some of the craziest stuff i've ever heard of, no wonder some people think hes under the influence. Never have i heard so much bravado about a candidate (Perry) that just turned out to be a windbag. Romneys the man folks! Love it or go to the dems!!
Come on, Give him a break ! Need I say more, We couldn't get the media to even mention the so called Rev. Wright or Bill Ayers and ya'll want to jump on a little humor in a speech. It's no wonder our country is going to hell in a hand basket ! Grow up, we have to get the clown we have in Washington out while we still have a USA
Perry was acting very strange,.. he was definitely under the influence,.. either alcohol, drugs or both,.. he was totally giddy and sissy like, a total deviation from his chest puffing macho presence.
Goofball. Please, can we see a real candidate. Perry is out of his league and he knows it. Romney is the only decent candidate left in the bunch.
"protecting the integrity of the primary process", she says. With liars and jokers like Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Perry, ad nauseum running, you'd have to dump these bums and start from scratch to even restore a SEMBLANCE of "integrity" to the republican primaries.
The man sound like he was drunk , and If It was anybody else you would say the same thing. You people must think this guy walk on water or something. If It was President Obama you people be swearing he was drunk. If Rick Perry wasn't drunk ,than he was on something else. You Republican need to stop think the American People are dumb. Because I bet there not many that don't believe he was drunk or on something else.
If you can't defend yourself, how do you expect to defend a country?
"They saw a side of him they hadn't seen yet," said Kevin Smith, who organized the event for Cornerstone.
We sure did. And is this the man we would want representing us to the rest of the world?
The clown show continues.
sure a right wing Republican can get away with doing something like this. Had Obama done such a speech in 2008 he would have been attacked even more on the right for sure.
Vote tea publican if you want to go back to the stone age and have no jobs and no regulation of banks. You see how well that worked in the past. Vote teapublicans if you want to vote againest your own interstate
Rick, how is it unfair or biased of the media to simply show Perry, in his own words and actions, acting a fool?
Kat, please stop spreading Fakes News talking points manure. Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers will stories well-covered by all the media. Indeed, to sane people it was quite clear those non-stories were over-covered relative to things like Palin's demonstrated incompetence.
This may turn out to be Perry's "Howard Dean" moment. Bizarre!
Good for them supporting something so Presidential as the Perry speech. Keep lowering the bar...I love it!
To Rick McDaniel. You don't think others have deliberately torn down President Obama–oh contrare....That's the thing about you Republican thugs, you can dish it, but it's a different story when it comes home to roost. Rick Perry did not look presidential in that speech–and I watched the whole thing on Friday and my impression of him was how laughable he was. He came off as being ridiculous–and if he were president (which he will never be), then the whole country would be laughing at him like they do Silvio Berlusconi.
If you are explaining-you're losing...
What was actually said in the speech? Was it done in front of the legislature when they could have been doing the people's work/business? If it was, then I might have an objection.