SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Rick Perry defended his speech in New Hampshire, widely questioned after being posted on YouTube, denying he was under the influence of alcohol or medication.
The Texas governor who is seeking the Republican nomination for president told the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday the Friday address was "a pretty typical speech for me."
In the first time he has spoken at length about the speech, Perry said: "I've probably given 1,000 speeches. There are some that have been probably boring, some that have been animated, some that have been in between."
The Republican presidential candidate denied suggestions he was under the influence of alcohol or on medication for back pain.
Perry told the Chronicle the speech wasn't "bizarre" or damaging.
"Ask the people who were there, not some political opponent who has put a video up," he said. "The people there were responding to the speech ... clapping at all the right places -- and there was a standing ovation at the end."
Some publications and pundits have described the speech as "incoherent," "giddy" and "goofy," CBS News noted.
In an 8-minute video of the 25-minute speech posted on YouTube, Perry toys and jokes with the audience, makes sarcastic comments about rival Herman Cain's tax plan and giggles when the event's organizers give him a bottle of maple syrup.
"This is such a cool state," Perry told the New Hampshire audience, before commenting on the state's slogan. "I mean, come on, 'Live free or die'? You gotta love that, right? I come from a state where they had this little place called the Alamo, and they declared 'Victory or death.' You know, we're kinda into those slogans, man, it's like 'Live free or die,' 'Victory or death.' Bring it!"
Late-night TV talk show hosts and some news anchors said Perry appeared drunk, while others have speculated he could have been on medication for back pain.
The video has been viewed by more than 600,000 people, The Hill reported.
Americans, Perry said, "are not confused about what is on their minds."
"And it's not whether some political operative takes a video and puts it up on YouTube," he said. "They care about who's going to get this country back working, who is it that has a track record and a focus and the courage to walk into Washington, D.C. Not tinker around the edges with a little tweezer but take a wrecking ball, a sledge hammer -- whatever it takes to break up the good-old-boy corporate lobbyist mentality that is putting this country's future in jeopardy."
