Former Texas Governor Rick Perry officially announced Thursday he will join a crowded field of Republican presidential contenders, and run for president in 2016.
The 65-year-old announced his second White House bid in style from a crowded airplane hangar near Dallas, TX, in front of a C-130 painted with his campaign’s new logo, and was welcomed by intro music that grabbed the essence of Texas, and nearly broke the Internet.
See the video here:
Perry was introduced by a version of artist Colt Ford’s 2012 country-rap song “Answer to No One,” which was of course modified for his upcoming campaign.
A verse for the Perry rendition of the Ford hit goes a little something like this:
Shotgun toter, Republican voter, Rick Perry supporter, let’s protect our border
To heck with anyone who don’t believe in the USA, Rick Perry all the way…
Alongside his family, Taya Kyle and Navy SEAL twin brothers Marcus and Morgan Luttrell, Perry delivered a message of patriotism, economic populism and American optimism.
“I know that America has experienced great change, but what it means to be an American has never changed,” Perry said to an excited crowd. “We are the only nation in the world founded on the power of an idea that all “are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The Texan added: “Our rights come from God, not from government, and our people are not the subjects of government, but instead government is subject to the people.”
Perry is the tenth Republican to throw his hat in the ring for 2016, but is the only the second to become the subject of a hip-hop campaign track, the other being Ted Cruz.