Trump picks Perry to head Energy Dept
Multiple news outlets report that Perry is Trump’s pick to head the Department of Energy.
Drops out of race
Perry drops out of the 2015 presidential race, the first of the current candidates to do so.
We have a tremendous field — the best in a generation — so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, and as long as we listen to the grassroots, the cause of conservatism will be too. I share this news with no regrets. It has been a privilege in an honor to travel this country, to speak with the American people about their hopes and dreams, to see a sense of optimism prevalent despite a season of cynical politics.
WATCH: “Today I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States." -Rick Perryhttps://t.co/3lut2pAIIZ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 11, 2015
Announces presidential run
Perry launches his second presidential campaign in front of a crowd of 1,000. Using a C-130 cargo plane — the type he flew while serving in the U.S. Air Force — as a backdrop and introduced by veterans, he emphasizes his military service, and says that Americans see the system rigged, are stuck with stagnated wages and stifled by regulations, mounting tuition costs, with many families on food stamps.
Now is the time for clear-sighted leadership. This is the election where voters will ask, ‘Where have you led?’ It’s not a speech on the Senate floor. It’s not what you’ve said; it’s what you have done…I know America has experienced great change, but what it means to be an American has never changed…I hear you; you are not forgotten. I’m running to be your president