Gov. Rick Perry's answer to a child's question about evolution has drawn another round of national parsing of the presidential candidate's statement.
At the urging of his mother, a young boy asked Perry's views on evolution.
"Here your mom was asking about evolution, and you know it's a theory that's out there, and it's got some gaps in it," Perry said, according to ABC News. "In Texas, we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools — because I figure you're smart enough to figure out which one is right."
Perry's response drew swift reaction from education officials and legal analysts in Texas, who were quick to point out that Texas public schools do not teach creationism.
The researchers over at PolitiFact Texas looked into the issue and rated Perry's statement as "False."
A Perry spokesperson told Politifact Texas that creationism likely comes up when students analyze the theory of evolution in the classroom.
Fellow presidential candidate Jon Huntsman decided to ding Perry a bit for the remark along with Perry's suggestion earlier in the week that global warming was based on manipulated data.
Tweeted Huntsman: "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."
Here's the video of Perry's exchange with the child:
-Aman Batheja
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