Gov. Rick Perry wants to meet Donald Trump at the pull-up bar.
Perry suggested the match-up after Trump told reporters Wednesday that Perry doesn’t deserve a spot on the Aug. 6 debate stage because he lacks the “energy,” “brainpower,” and “toughness” required to run a successful campaign.
“Let’s get a pull-up bar up there and see who can do the most-pull ups,” Perry said in response to the criticism. So far, the Trump campaign team hasn’t responded to the invitation.
When CNBC asked him how many pull-ups he can do, Perry chuckled and responded, “More than Donald Trump.”
Last year, Perry told reporters he’d begun a daily regimen of push-ups, pull-ups, crunches and time on a stationary bicycle to help ease a back problem. As a younger man, Perry served in the U.S. Air Force as a C-130 pilot in Europe and the Middle East, achieving the rank of captain. While enrolled at Texas A&M in the 1970s, the former Texas governor was a member of the Corps of Cadets and served as an Aggie Yell Leader (male cheerleader).
Trump was an all-around athlete in high school, participating in football, soccer, baseball, and wrestling. The Health Fitness Revolution reported the mogul now keeps in shape by going on walks and golfing. In 2010, he told the New York Times that he’s “not much of a gym guy,” and that his exercise only goes as far as some recreational golf and tennis.
The two have been feuding since they joined the race for the GOP nomination, and they’ve taken their insults to their Twitter feeds.
Fox News may have found extra space to fit more candidates and podiums onto next Thursday’s debate stage, but so far, there are no plans to add pull-up bars tall enough for the 6-foot-plus men.
