Former Texas Governor Rick Perry battled with Whoopi Goldberg on Wednesday as The View co-host demanded to know if the Republican agreed with “nasty” Ted Cruz on the issue of gay rights. The segment grew uncomfortable as Goldberg demanded, “Ted Cruz has made also some very — if you're gay — really uncomfortable, nasty things.”
She added, “I'm asking you, when you embrace a candidate like Ted Cruz, what are you embracing about him?” Goldberg lectured, “You have to understand that these folks also are Americans and some of the things that— That Ted has espoused has not been good. I want to make sure that you're not endorsing that.”
On the issue of gay rights, Perry shot back at Goldberg:
RICK PERRY: I'm a big believer that there's too many people want to consolidate power into Washington D.C. I do happen to think — I'm a big believer in the Tenth Amendment that basically says you push that back into the states and let them decide these issues.
A partial transcript is below:
The View
4/27/16
11:25am ETWHOOPI GOLDBERG: Now, I got to ask you about this because Ted Cruz has made also some very — if you're gay — really uncomfortable, nasty things.
RICK PERRY: Everybody that's out there running says ugly, nasty things, Whoopi.
GOLDBERG: And I bitch at all of them. So I'm asking you, when you embrace a candidate like Ted Cruz, what are you embracing about him? I just want to be clear, because I know that you don't subscribe to what he said.
PERRY: You know what I think about what we've done in the state of Texas with the criminal justice system and the reforms that we've made there. And I'm going to be spending a lot of my time — I'm passionate about reforming the criminal justice system because people that look like you have not been treated right in that criminal justice system and they need a strong law and governor like me to stand up and say that, “Folks, we've got to change that.” The Republican Party that was made for freeing the slaves has forgotten about the African-Americans.
GOLDBERG: Don’t bring that up, because Lincoln was the only one that was “Saying, listen, we got to get this together.”
PERRY: No, but that’s true!
GOLDBERG: He forced this issue. It wasn't like everybody said this.
PERRY: And we decided that we don’t need African American votes. We need to be back out there getting them back.
GOLDBERG: Do you feel that your party represents gay folks as well as they should?
RAVEN-SYMONE: — LGBT Community as well as they should. Do you feel like they even recognizing them as human beings?
GOLDBERG: You have to understand that these folks also are Americans and some of the things that— That Ted has espoused has not been good. I want to make sure that you're not endorsing that.
PERRY: Here's what I'm endorsing, is that we are Americans, and we got to get past all of the labels and we got to put policies into place that allow people to live free.
GOLDBERG: Okay.
PERRY: I'm a big believer that there's too many people want to consolidate power into Washington D.C. I do happen to think — I'm a big believer in the Tenth Amendment that basically says you push that back into the states and let them decide these issues.
