Michelle Bachmann, another Republican contender noted that Perry’s Gardasil executive order coincided with donations to his gubernatorial reelection campaign, and implied they may have been organized by Perry’s former chief of staff, who worked as a top lobbyist at the drug company that provided Gardasil, Merck. “We cannot forget that in the midst of this executive order, that there was a big drug company that made millions of dollars from this mandate,” Bachmann claimed. “What I’m saying that it’s wrong for a drug company because the governor’s former chief of staff was the chief lobbyist for this drug company. The drug company gave thousands of dollars in political contributions to the governor. And this is just flat-out wrong. The question is, was this about life or about millions of dollars — and potentially billions of dollars — for the drug company.”
Perry stated that “The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million. If you’re saying I can be bought for $5,000, I am offended.” Perry did not address the fact that his former chief of staff was employed as a lobbyist for Merck.
However, ABC news reports in the video below that Perry in fact received well over $300,000 in his relationship with Merck Pharmaceuticals.
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