Rick Perry: ‘Absolutely’ I Would Support Trump If He Is the Nominee

[excerpt]

HEMMER: “If you’re down to two, that means people are going to have to make a choice real soon.”
PERRY: “Yeah, they are. And Florida —“ 
HEMMER: “Do you see Donald Trump winning you over?”
PERRY: “Listen, I’m going to be for the Republican nominee whenever that occurs. I just think we’re a long way from that happening. Whoever is going to be able to get to that magic number, and I’m not sure that’s going to happen. So there’s always this outside possibility of the brokered convention as well. And listen, that is pure democracy right there. You go in, you have your vote, you have the people that have gone through the process and they will select the nominee for us. So, I think we’re a long way from — I don’t think Donald Trump wants to be ‘mano y mano’ with Ted Cruz. When it gets down to those two individuals straight up where you’re going for, somebody is going to get above 50 percent — Ted Cruz is going to win that time after time.” 
HEMMER: “You may be right, but the calendar shifts away from favorability for Cruz. And so, we’ll see how that plays out. But you said something very interesting. That you will support the Republican nominee. That means if Cruz does not win, you’ll support Donald Trump, right?”
PERRY: “Absolutely. Listen —“
HEMMER: “So if that is the case then, you think about Republican establishment, right? Think about all the folks in Washington, D.C. Both, Cruz and Trump sell themselves as outsiders. So who does the establishment pick if the choice is Trump or Cruz?”
PERRY: “Well I think Senator Cruz, you’re hearing that time after time, is that when you have Lindsey Graham, when you have others that have been pretty critical of Senator Cruz in the past, but when they — they look at it, and they say the difference here between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, I’m going to go with Ted Cruz because at least we know we’re getting a consistent conservative who will put a true conservative, strict constitutionalist on the United States Supreme Court.”