It isn’t something you see every day: Two potential 2016 contenders bro-ing out.
But it happened Friday when former Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum unexpectedly hugged it out in the halls at CPAC.
“Ricky! Don’t run off!” Perry shouted at Santorum in between interviews. “How are you brother? The only other guy I can call Ricky.”
The two men campaigned against each other for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, but on Friday, there was no tension between Perry and Santorum despite the fact they may face off again in the next election.
“This is one of the good things that happened from the last campaign,” Santorum said of his friendship with the Texas governor.
Perry asked Santorum to pray for his new granddaughter who was born Friday morning, and Santorum’s children waded through the crowd to tell the former governor hello.
When they parted ways, Perry said to Santorum, “Love you brother.”
While the interaction was surprisingly friendly, there's no telling if that same spirit will find its way to the debate stage if the two run against each other again in 2016.