Texas Gov. Rick Perry wouldn’t say today whether he’s going to participate in the GOP presidential debate tomorrow, citing the “fluid” situation with wildfires burning through the central part of the Lone Star state.
Perry, who got off the campaign trail Monday to return to Texas, told CBS’ The Early Show that his focus is on the latest fires, including a devastating one in Bastrop County near Austin.
“I don’t know,” Perry said when asked by CBS if he will participate in the GOP debate, set for Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
“That’s a fluid situation at the moment, so again I go back to we’re going to be taking care of the folks here,” the governor continued to say on CBS. “I got a great team of people to work with. That’s one of the things I’ve been blessed with for 10 years.”
Perry has vaulted to the top of Gallup and other national polls since joining the Republican field last month, and has become a frequent target of his rivals. If he participates in Wednesday’s debate, it would be his first since entering the 2012 White House race.
Perry said at a news conference this morning that more than 100,000 acres have burned in the latest spate of wildfires, which have also claimed more than 1,000 homes. The Texas Forest Service says nearly 600 of those destroyed homes are in Bastrop County, about 25 miles from Austin.
