GOP presidential candidate and former Texas Governor Rick Perry dubbed the Supreme Court “legislators in robes” and said the US’ foreign policy is “erratic at best” on Saturday’s “Fox & Friends” on the Fox News Channel.
Perry said that he is a “traditional marriage supporter” and believes the Supreme Court “overstepped its bounds, it legislated from the bench.” He added that the issue should have been decided by the states, adding “we need to really be thinking about, do we want the Supreme Court to be these legislators in robes?” Later, he expressed agreement with Justice Louis Brandeis’ argument that the states should be “laboratories of democracy.”
Perry also stated that most voters he has talked to are more concerned with foreign policy and the economy, not same-sex marriage.
The discussion then turned to foreign policy and terrorism, Perry argued, “the president stepping back, whether it was in Libya, whether it was in Egypt, — obviously, we had the opportunity to stop ISIS in Syria by funding the Syrian rebels early. And then when — I completely agree, had we funded the peshmerga in northern Iraq, they would have stopped ISIS at that particular point in time. And again, the president, his stepping back from engagement against ISIS has been a terrible dilemma for our country, and I think for the Middle East. We must have a plan working with our Middle Eastern allies to go in and to eliminate ISIS.” And “this administration, whether it was pulling out of Iraq in 2011, whether it’s not having a coalition in the Middle East to stop ISIS, continues to send the message of America’s erratic at best. Our allies don’t know whether we’re going to be there with them, and obviously, our adversaries don’t respect us either.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett