Perry responds to Trump insults with pull-up contest challenge

Perry bemoaned that while thousands of community banks have closed in recent years, big Wall Street banks were stronger than ever.

Throughout the speech, Perry took swipes at Democrats, including Clinton, for having a backwards view of the future of the U.S. economy.

He also said Clinton now supports a capital gains tax and has become “a proponent of Warrenism”, a dig at liberal U.S. Sen. Jeb Bush to a housing bubble.

Perry attacked Bush for not doing more as Florida governor to prevent the housing crash. He was quoted saying he believes that he stands out from the Washington insiders running as an outsider who can bring change.

Former reality TV star Donald Trump, who is leading the pack in opinion polls, slammed Perry earlier this week, claiming he is not energetic or tough enough to run a successful presidential campaign.

Perry’s appearance at the Yale Club was otherwise largely focused on policy, though he briefly weighed in on a topic now consuming the 2016 race: the candidacy of bombastic billionaire Donald Trump.

“Let’s get a pull-up bar out there and let’s see who can do the most pull-ups”, said Perry, once an Air Force captain, when asked by a reporter if he had any message for Trump.

About 150 people attended the luncheon, which was sponsored by the Committee to Unleash Economic Prosperity, a new group founded by conservative economists Steve Forbes, Larry Kudlow, Arthur B.