These Republicans Prove You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Have A Lot To Say About Science

WASHINGTON –- There was a time when many Republican candidates would say that climate change wasn't real, or at least, wasn't being caused by human activity. But in 2014, many have instead started to dodge questions about their positions on climate change by pleading ignorance: "I'm not a scientist … "

This increasingly common response is not limited to questions about climate change. Indeed, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) seems to have originated this trend in response to a question about the age of planet Earth in an 2012 interview with GQ. “I’m not a scientist, man," Rubio said. "I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States."

Other Republican politicians have used the bromidic refrain to talk about the HPV vaccine and nuclear waste storage. It's not limited to members of Congress, either: Governors, too, have deployed the non-response.

Watch our video mash-up of politicians who are not scientists, above.