GOP Debate: Rick Perry forgets name of agency he’d abolish (VIDEO)
Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney (L) and Gov. Rick Perry during the presidential debate sponsored by CNN and The Tea Party Express at the Florida State fairgrounds on September 12, 2011 in Tampa, Florida. The debate featured the eight candidates ten days before the Florida straw poll.
Governor Rick Perry forgot which agency he would abolish if elected president during the GOP presidential debate on Wednesday night, reported CNBC.
Perry was asked a question about reducing the federal deficit and told the audience he would eliminate three federal agencies to help relieve the mounting debt crisis, according to the Associated Press:
The third agency of government I would do away with — the Education, the Commerce. And let's see. I can't. The third one, I can't. Oops.
Perry's fellow candidates tried to help him out, suggesting the EPA was the third agency, according to a YouTube video clip of the debate. When pressed by moderator John Harwood though, Perry admitted that was not what he was talking about.
The Texas governor said later in the debate that he meant to say the Department of Energy, reported Reuters.
Perry's campaign has gone into damage control since the end of the two-hour CNBC debate, with Perry himself saying he "stepped in it" out there, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Pundits across the spectrum have deemed his campaign over while others have said it shows a human side to the candidate. Still, The New York Times reported that Perry's lackluster debate performances have continuously undercut his campaign, and this performance is no different.
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Other highlights of the debate: