MSNBC's Alex Wagner schooled GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson on American history Thursday, following Carson's assertion that not one signer of the Declaration of Independence had ever held elected office.
“The claim that every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience is absolutely not true,” said Wagner, who was filling in for Lawrence O'Donnell on "The Last Word."
She pointed to a Facebook post by Carson in which he argued that his lack of political experience should be something for voters to admire rather than find troubling.
"I have no political experience. The current Members of Congress have a combined 8,700 years of political experience. Are we sure political experience is what we need," Carson wrote. "Every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience. "
Wagner tore into the last sentence, which was later edited to say "no federal elected office experience."
An excerpt of Carson's original Facebook post:
"Thirteen of the 56 signers did not hold elected office before being elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1775,” Wagner said. “But most of them were good ol’ career politicians."
This isn't the first time the candidate has shown a fundamental misunderstanding of history. Earlier this week, in an interview with CBS News, Carson reiterated his belief that the pyramids of Egypt were used for storing grains, rather than tombs for ancient kings and queens.
Watch the clip from "The Last Word" below.