Hours after Saturday's presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry continued his string of memorable campaign gaffes.
CNN Political Ticker reports that Perry campaigned in the Hawkeye State, stopping in Ames. He focused on energy, taking shots at the Obama administration's handling of government spending.
"No greater example of it than this administration sending millions of dollars into the solar industry, and we lost that money," Perry said. "I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solynda."
Perry was on target with his loan estimate, as the Department Of Energy issued a $535 million guarantee back in 2009. The only problem with his remark: the funding went to an energy company named Solyndra.
The Texas governor's lineup of laughs has grown over the course of his 2012 campaign. Back in November, he made headlines with his "oops" moment at a GOP debate, failing to name three federal agencies that he would eliminate. In New Hampshire, Perry got the voting age wrong as well as the date of the 2012 election. Two days ago, Perry had a judicial fail in an interview with the Des Moines Register forgetting the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Perry defended his gaffes in a sit-down with Fox News Sunday, telling viewers that voters "aren't looking for a robot."
Back in 2010, Obama touted Solyndra as an exemplary company within the green economy. But by August 2011, that praise wilted to problems, with the company announcing its plans to file for bankruptcy. That began a chain of events, including CEO Brian Harrison's resignation, a Republican-driven subpoena for documents related to the company and an ensuing rejection by the Obama administration. By mid-November, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was taking responsibility for the failed loan.
Here are some of Perry's other memorable mistakes:
