Former President Bill Clinton called Texas Gov. Rick Perry a “good-looking rascal” during a New York appearance Monday before going on to slam his anti-Washington rhetoric as “crazy.”
“I got tickled by watching Governor Perry announce for governor — for president. He’s a good-looking rascal,” Clinton said to laughter from the audience of firefighters at a Manhattan conference The New York Observer reported.
“And he’s saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to Washington to make sure that the federal government stays as far away from you as possible — while I ride on Air Force One and that Marine One helicopter and go to Camp David and travel around the world and have a good time.’ I mean, this is crazy,” Clinton continued.
The former president was referring to the charismatic, three-term governor’s announcement speech in Charleston, S.C., Saturday in which he said, “I will work every day to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your lives as I can,” evoking his small-government approach to politics.