Rick Perry questions presidential election results—at his alma mater

AUSTIN—Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks the president stole the election.

No, he’s not talking about President Donald Trump, Perry’s new boss as the former governor leads the Energy Department. He’s talking about Bobby Brooks, a kid from Belton who just was elected student body president at Perry’s alma mater Texas A&M University.

Brooks is the first openly gay student to be elected to that position, news that was hailed as a huge move forward for the college when it first broke. But Perry, isn’t having it, accusing Brooks of stealing the election from student Robert McIntosh in a Houston Chronicle op-ed posted Wednesday.

“Brooks’ presidency is being treated as a victory for ‘diversity,’” Perry wrote. “It is difficult to escape the perception that this quest for ‘diversity’ is the real reason the election outcome was overturned.”

McIntosh, a senior, is the son of Dallas-based Republican fundraiser Alison McIntosh, who worked on Jeb Bush’s 2016 campaign and Mitt Romney’s 2012 run for president. Perry, twice a presidential hopeful himself, is featured in photographs with McIntosh’s other children on Facebook.

According to A&M’s student newspaper, The Battalion, McIntosh received more votes than Brooks but was disqualified, first after accusations of voter intimidation surfaced, and then, after he failed to provide financial documentation for glow sticks he used in a campaign video. While McIntosh was cleared of the voter intimidation allegations, his disqualification ultimately was upheld due to the campaign finance error, The Battalion reported.

Perry questioned this outcome, saying McIntosh and Brooks were held to different standards. Each used “visual props” in their campaign videos, wrote Perry, but just McIntosh was disqualified after “a series of dirty campaign tactics” from Brooks’ supporters.

“Would the administration and the student body have allowed the first gay student body president to be voided for using charity glow sticks?” Perry asked in his op-ed. “We all know that the administration, the SGA and student body would not have permitted such a thing to happen. The outcome would have been different if the victim was different.”

Reached for comment late Thursday, an A&M official said the school was caught off guard by Perry’s op-ed, which they received just before it went live online.

“He’s always been a great proponent for Texas A&M. I’m surprised that he’s weighing in. I’m surprised he would have the time to do that,” said A&M Communications Officer Amy B. Smith. “There’s rules here. Somebody lost and somebody won, and that’s always tough, but it was just a surprise to see this.

“But we respectfully disagree with Secretary Perry.”