Perry said he wasn’t drunk during speech

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he wasn’t inebriated during a recent speech that went viral on YouTube.

“I was just giving a speech,” Perry told the San Francisco Chronicle. "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 8-minute video compilation shows Perry speaking to an influential conservative group called Cornerstone in New Hampshire, highlighting his hand gestures, facial expressions and remarks. The video has been viewed over 1.1 million times.

The speculation that Perry was on drugs or drunk angered a group of New Hampshire GOP activists. “Rick Perry, we can all agree, is a disappointing debater, but he gave an excellent speech that night,” Jennifer Horne, a longtime New Hampshire Republican activist, told The Boston Herald. ““There was nothing about his behavior on stage or off that made me question his sobriety. “ 

Perry spokesman Mark Miner told The Huffington Post that he is “passionate about the issues he talks about."