One-on-one with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry

AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry continues to be actively involved in policy initiatives at both the state and federal levels. Perry spoke with Josh Hinkle for the June 15, 2025, edition of State of Texas, addressing some of his recent work.

Perry is actively promoting the expansion of research into the psychedelic compound ibogaine. He and other supporters believe the compound could help veterans suffering from PTSD and addiction.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation Tuesday that invests $50 million into clinical research of ibogaine. One of the people standing behind Abbott at the signing ceremony was Bryan Hubbard, leader of the American Ibogaine Initiative. Hubbard worked with Perry to win support from lawmakers to expand research.

“I came to commit myself to doing whatever was necessary to advance a therapeutic that can restore the mind, body and spirit of an individual who has been walled off in the isolation of addiction,” Hubbard said before attending the ceremony..

Perry worked closely with Hubbard to push for the legislation.

“Brian Hubbard is just the absolute genius on this,” Perry said. “He has the experience, the knowledge, the understanding of how to run these clinical trials. And from my perspective, that’s the real key here.”

Perry said he and Hubbard are partnering on ways to expand clinical trials around the country. Together, they’ve created a 501c3 called Americans for Ibogaine. Perry said Veteran Marcus Luttrell is one of the board members.

“There are a lot of other states that are going to be interested in this, and that’s going to give us the ability to really expand the clinical trials across the country,” Perry said. He hopes that data from clinical trials could lead to ibogaine being rescheduled from Schedule 1 down to Schedule 3 classification, potentially making it more accessible for medical use.

“I was very skeptical at first, but I was open-minded, I listened, I studied, and I came to believe that it is the or could be a major, widespread solution for a lot of issues that we face in this country,” Perry said. “Not only the PTSD and what we put our war fighters through for the last 20 years, but for addictions, for some of the neurodegenerative diseases of Parkinson’s, MS, potentially Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

“God bless Texas for getting behind this and for making it a reality in the Lone Star State,” Perry added.

Earlier this month, a federal judge struck down the Texas Dream Act, which allowed some undocumented students to receive in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. Perry signed the Texas Dream Act into law in 2001. He notably defended the law during a 2011 Republican presidential debate.

“If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they have been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Perry said during the 2011 debate, drawing cheers from the audience.

But after the court decision to end the Dream Act, Perry had a different view. He cited dissatisfaction with how the Biden administration dealt with border security as changing public opinion about children who were brought to the country illegally.

“They basically had an open border policy,” Perry said of the Biden administration. “That has tainted everything all across this country, and I think it made it easy for people to stand up and say, look, what was a thoughtful approach to how we deal with people who don’t have the legal right to be in this country 25 years ago to today is completely different.”

Perry said that until the issue of immigration is resolved, programs like the Dream Act are unlikely to come back into place.

“The American people basically said, you know what, until we get that fixed, these other programs are not going to go forward. And I will tell you, I think that’s probably the proper way,” Perry said.

Perry also weighed in on Gov. Abbott’s decision to call in the National Guard to assist law enforcement during protests across Texas.

“I think Governor Abbott made the right decision. His job is to keep the citizens of the state safe, and if these protesters, although they have the right to free speech, we get that. But once they cross that line and get into destroying property or putting people’s lives in jeopardy, then that’s different,” Perry said.

Perry spoke via Zoom from his office in Fayette County. A Texas A&M banner hangs in the background of the camera shot, and several Aggieland yearbooks can be seen on the bookshelf behind him. Perry gave his take on the upcoming change in leadership at the Texas A&M University System. State Comptroller Glenn Hegar is set to take over as chancellor, a position currently held by John Sharp.

“Before I talk about Glenn, let me say that John Sharp did an incredible job in his 14 years of being the chancellor,” Perry said. “In the history of the school, back all the way to 1876, I will suggest to you there has been no one who has elevated Texas A&M any more.”

“Chancellor Hegar is a fine young man who’s got a great history as House member, Senator, Comptroller, and now the chancellor of the Texas A&M system,” Perry said. “I suspect that he will carry the banner high, do a great job and keep the University of Texas and Texas A & M playing football. That’s really important,” Perry added with a smile.