Rick Perry Fumbles Revolutionary War Remarks Following Republican Debate

Following Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate, Texas Governor Rick Perry stumbled in making remarks on the Revolutionary War, Carrie Dann at NBC News reports.

The GOP contender suggested that one of the "reasons we fought the revolution in the 16th century was to get away from that kind of onerous crown" in response to a question on the issue of states' rights. NBC News points out that the conflict was waged in the 18th century.

ABC News reports that Perry's remarks came during a post-debate stop at a fraternity on the Dartmouth College campus, where the presidential forum was held.

The Texas governor is not the first candidate vying for the Republican presidential nomination to fumble the facts when it comes to the Revolutionary War. In March of this year, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told a group of local New Hampshire Republicans, "You're the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord." The first shots of the Revolutionary War; however, were fired in Massachusetts, not in the Granite State.

The AP reported on Bachmann's remarks:

Though Bachmann probably wasn't the first to confuse Concord, N.H., with Concord, Mass., her mistake was striking given her roots in the Tea Party movement, which takes its name from the dumping of tea into Boston Harbor by angry American colonists in December 1773, 16 months before the Battle of Lexington Green.

Meanwhile, after a series of missteps and setbacks, Perry failed to rebound with his debate performance on Tuesday night. According to a CBS News/National Journal reporter, the Lone Star State Republican suggested after the event that debates are not his "strong suit."

Perry spokesman Mark Miner recently said, "He's the commander in chief, not the debater in chief."

Below, a video mash-up of highlights from Tuesday night's debate.

WATCH:

Comments

[Jeff Parfitt]

12:54 PM on 10/12/2011

I don't think that Perry's fumble is all that bad in comparison to Bachmann's. I remember having trouble with figuring out the dates of centuries in third grade. It was tricky. Bachmann's seemed more like she never really knew the right answer instead of just making a mistake that one time.

[bella citta]

12:54 PM on 10/12/2011

Hey, but what can you expect from a person whose thoughts and perceptions are more in tune with that period between circa the 5th and 9th Century...... Also known as "The Dark Ages!"

[Ifeomamn]

12:54 PM on 10/12/2011

It is official, Perry is done. It was funny how in the debate yesterday, None of the candidates went after Romney. Romney now leads Perry in SC but Cain leads Romney in SC. Isn't funny that a Black man, Cain, in SC leads a Romney? Now in the debate, who were they all attacking yesterday, Cain and once again, Romney was left alone.

Very interesting.

[olitenup]

12:53 PM on 10/12/2011

I have yet to see one comment from anyone stating this buckaroo is intelligent. Just because he sells his soul for $$$ means he is greedy and can be bought, not that he is smart.

[DuaneBidoux]

12:52 PM on 10/12/2011

There is a very fundamental reason why we hear so many gaffs in history, science, basic facts in foreign and global affairs from Republicans: it is their general disdain for learning, education, and just plain lack of curiosity about things they don’t understand.

And if you are trying to support a simple world view and facts are making that world seem complex then the only answer is to refuse to see the complex in the world.

It is a well known fact that Perry, Bachman, Palin, etc. were, to put it mildly, mediocre students. If your opposition is all great students from great schools what is your choice except to denigrate education in favor of “common sense.”

What were theses candidates doing in those classrooms? I can only surmise they were sitting there being bored because of all this “useless” stuff that kept them from the only thing that mattered: getting out and making money.

In any case, cramming for several months before a campaign debate can never make up for hours and years staring out the window while your professors try to share the world with you. In Obama’s current political situation this may be his best hope: the incurious and uninformed Republican opposition.

[David Aric Jones]

12:52 PM on 10/12/2011

This isn't frontpage news. It's a minor error in an otherwise coherent statement. Don't get me wrong, the guy's an idiot, but this isn't a good example of his idiocy.

[dwright]

12:50 PM on 10/12/2011

Had he said 1700's or even The 17th Century I could understand because people do get those confused.  But 16th Century?

The push for Revolution started with The Proclamation of 1763

[Belle Starr]

12:53 PM on 10/12/2011

I'd go with the Proclamation too, but I think someone could make a good argument for Bacon's Rebellion (1676) as the beginning too.

[Freescjk67]

12:53 PM on 10/12/2011

1st century started at 0 A.D., the year 100 AD is the 2nd century...and so forth.

[CabinAgue]

12:52 PM on 10/12/2011

Faved before your comment vanishes!

[CabinAgue]

12:53 PM on 10/12/2011

Someone (she-who-must-not-be-named) has a very thin skin?

[simplemee]

12:49 PM on 10/12/2011

Last night on some towing-reality show that asks trivia questions as a way to keep from towing your vehicle, the host asked this mother-daughter pair "Besides Alaska and Hawaii, what three states border the Pacific Ocean", and to my horror, the pair answered Florida, debated about North Carolina being a state, and possibly Georgia. The good thing, they weren't running for president. The bad thing...Perry is.

[Grace Hulbert]

12:49 PM on 10/12/2011

Listen, when you packed the complete history of the universe into a 6,000 year time frame, you're going to have to move a few things around. It's unavoidable. But that's Perry's strength: he's a decider.

[CabinAgue]

12:53 PM on 10/12/2011

That's an excellent point.

[p mersault]

12:49 PM on 10/12/2011

This is what happens when you enforce a purity test. By narrowing the potential field greatly and not accepting those with opposing views, you end up with a terrible field that's unfit for the office. Half of the group have no intellectual integrity (Romney), and the other half is unthinking and/or uneducated (Bachmann/Perry). The Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot. Given the economy and what has transpired over the last three years, the Republicans should be mounting a solid opposition, but they aren't because of this.

[rebasfl]

12:48 PM on 10/12/2011

Perry 'fumbles' a lot. If he were a halfback on a football team, he'd be put only on the kick-off team
for his expertise, and that sort of a Kamikaze style of politics.

[methnkng]

12:48 PM on 10/12/2011

Where are all these Republicans receiving their lack of education?

[mtdem4ever]

12:53 PM on 10/12/2011

No real unions in Texas, which is where Perry received his edukayshun.

There are, however, some really messed up text books down there.

[Junior Kitty]

12:50 PM on 10/12/2011

From Fox Noise, where else.

[Ben Winslow]

12:47 PM on 10/12/2011

The vast majority of Americans would NOT have made such a sad statement!

[Mikeeee]

12:47 PM on 10/12/2011

Only here can you have the comments for the lead story closed. Nice going guys.