Rick Perry: How Did the Orlando Shooter Fall Through the Cracks?
Former Gov. Rick Perry, (R-Texas), on the Orlando nightclub shooting and the fight against terrorism.
Former Republican presidential candidate and former Gov. Rick Perry, (R-Texas), questioned how Orlando shooter Omar Mateen fell through the cracks despite reports he was investigated twice by the FBI.
“These agencies of government that appear to have failed, whoever it is, is it Homeland Security, is it FBI as we look at these individuals, I mean how they missed this individual is a real head scratcher,” Perry told the FOX Business Network’s Sandra Smith.
Perry, a Trump supporter, noted that U.S. terrorist attacks are among the reasons Trump’s focus on immigration and national security are resonating with Americans.
“That’s one of the reasons that Donald Trump is very popular out there from the a political standpoint and what he’s saying, that we’re going to address this, so Americans know that they will be safe, secure this country’s borders, put the processes in place so that Americans know that they can get up and go to a night club or go to a church or go to a baseball game and be safe,” Perry said.
Perry also gave his opinion on what steps the next president needs to take to prevent further terror attacks in America.
“I think the next President of the United States has to truly get these agencies focused on this issue of radical Islam, whether it’s homegrown, these lone wolf types, or whether it’s happening half way around the world and allowing these individuals to come in here [U.S.],” Perry said.
Despite national security being a key issue this election year, Perry sees the economy as the number one priority.
“Nothing’s going to trump economics, if you don’t have the resources to pay for the homeland security, to pay for the military,” Perry continued, “So there’s a lot that’s going to have to be done. You have to get this economy back on track first and parallel with that, start building our military back up, defending our borders, having our agencies of government really get focused on this issue of Islamic terrorism and how we stop it.”