By fitsnews – January 18, 2012
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES E. LIVINGSTON PULLS “COUP DE NEWT”
Medal of Honor winner James E. Livingston – whose backing Rick Perry touted after he failed to secure the endorsement of S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley – has now pulled his support for the Texas Governor.
Livingston – who has also been featured prominently in Perry’s television ads – will announce that he’s ditching Perry in favor of former U.S. Speaker Newt Gingrich, sources familiar with his thinking tell FITS.
While Haley’s endorsement of Romney has wound up being a non-factor, it was originally expected to hurt Perry – who had previously been viewed as a favorite to receive the South Carolina governor’s backing (click here and here to see what we mean).
When Haley wound up going with Romney, Perry responded by invoking Livingston’s support.
“I’ve got a medal of honor recipient Jim Livingston, who endorsed me on the deck of the Yorktown … and you know, no offense but I like those guys that have that type of long-time record of endorsements,” Perry told The Politico.
Livingston is the second big Perry endorser to drop his support for the Texas governor this week. On Monday, S.C. Sen. Larry Grooms “un-endorsed” Perry and threw his support by U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
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