Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty announced his endorsement for Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential nomination race Monday morning.
Appearing on Fox and Friends, Pawlenty officially declared his support for his good friend. "The next president is going to need to lead on the economy in a new way, and that is Mitt Romney," he said. "I'm proud to endorse him as president, and I believe he can be a transformative president."
Pawlenty, who is now Romney's national co-chair, stood behind his friend's health care decisions in Massachusetts that he slammed on the campaign trail. And Pawlenty also found time to criticize Rick Perry for his recent comments on Social Security.
“Gov. Romney wants to fix Social Security. He doesn’t want to abolish it or end it,” Pawlenty said. “Gov. Perry has said in the past that he thought it was ‘failed.’”
Asked if he would consider being Romney's running mate, Pawlenty declined.
"I've already been down that path before with John McCain," he said. "I'm not even going to consider that."
WATCH: Video from Fox News, which appeared on September 12, 2011.
