Rick Perry, then the governor of Texas and presidential candidate, embarrassed himself in 2012. Promising to cut back on government, he announced he would eliminate three cabinet departments. In debate, he could only remember two. The one he couldn’t remember: Energy.
In 2016, he got a prize. Donald Trump nominated him to be Secretary of Energy. Donald Trump makes fun of people. There was just a a little mockery in this nomination. It was also consistent with Trump’s overall effort to appoint cabinet members with goals opposite to the purposes of their departments.=
Rick Perry played a bit part in Trump’s Ukraine scandal. Trump refused to meet with the new president of Ukraine, refused to attend the inaugural. Initially, he planned to send Secretary of State Pompeo. He decided to downgrade. The delegation was Rick Perry, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, and former special ambassador to Ukraine Kurt Volker. Perry met with President Zelensky, and talked about pipelines. While Trump was withholding military aid.
The blind leading the blind. Perry could chat on without knowing about Zelensky being squeezed about the Bidens. Instead, he got enthusiastic about his impact on international energy policy. He was getting played.