Rick Perry on Thursday suspended his
bid for the GOP nomination for president and threw his support behind
Newt Gingrich, ABC News reported.
With his wife, Anita, by his side,
Perry, 61, told reporters that Gingrich was the Republican candidate
who best represented “bold and conservative leadership.”
“I believe Newt is a conservative
visionary who can transform our country,” Perry said. “We've had
our differences, which campaigns inevitably have, and Newt is not
perfect, but who among us is?”
“We must rise to the occasion and
elect a conservative champion to put our nation back on track,” he
added.
Perry's endorsement is a huge win for
Gingrich, who appears poised for a comeback in Saturday's South
Carolina primary.
“I don't know how many votes Perry
had, but it's just one less person to look at,” South Carolina GOP
strategist Chip Felkel told The
Wall Street Journal. “The vote against [Mitt] Romney is
now being split in fewer ways, and that helps build the case that
Gingrich is the guy.”
Perry created controversy with the
release of an ad in Iowa lamenting the end of “Don't Ask, Don't
Tell,” the policy which for 18 years banned gay and bisexual troops
from serving openly. The ad, titled Strong, inspired
numerous parodies on the Internet. Perry's stance on gay
marriage also gave voters pause. He first said he backed a state's
right to decide on the issue but later added that he favors a federal
amendment to the constitution that would define marriage as a
heterosexual union.
The Texas governor, who said he would
return home with “pride,” is the fourth GOP candidate to bow out
of the GOP contest. Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain,
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman
have also suspended their bids. Cain and Bachmann oppose any
government recognition of gay and lesbian couples, while Huntsman
said he supports civil unions.