No candidate in the GOP presidential field has had quite as many notable gaffes as Governor Rick Perry (R-Texas). From his infamous forgetfulness at a November debate to his apparent lack of historical knowledge, Perry's frequent flubs have become a mainstay of his campaign. He has even used his mistakes as fundraising fodder, airing an ad that referred to his "oops" moment and sending an e-mail to supporters that stated, "We've all had human moments."
Most recently, Perry forgot the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor during an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board, referring to her as "Montomayor."
Here are some of Perry's memorable mistakes:
"It's three government agencies when I get there that are gone: Commerce, Education and the um, what's the third one there. Let's see," Perry said. He turned to Texas Rep. Ron Paul, looking for some help, but got nothing but a remark from Paul that he would eliminate five agencies."Oh five," Perry said. "So Commerce, Education, and, uh, the uh, um, um.""EPA?" offered former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney."EPA, there ya go," Perry said as the room exploded in laughter.CNBC moderator John Harwood honed in and pressed Perry: "Seriously? Is EPA the one you were talking about?""No sir. No sir. We were talking about the, um, agencies of government," Perry said. "The EPA needs to be rebuilt.""But you can't name the third one?" Harwood persisted."The third agency of government," Perry said. "I would do away with the education, the um, Commerce, and let's see. I can't think of the third one. I can't. Sorry. Oops."(credit:AP)
"Do you really think he [President Barack Obama] is waging a war on religion?" asked an editorial board member, referring to Perry's recent ad pledging to "end Obama's war on religion" and "fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage" as president."I do because when you see his appointment of two -- from my perspective, inarguably -- activist judges, whether it was," he said, then trailing off for about six seconds trying to recall her name. "Montomayor," he said. Someone on the editorial board said Sotomayor's name. "Sotomayor and [Elena] Kagan, who are both activist judges," he continued.(credit:AP)
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