Quote of the Night, Rick Perry Edition: “Oops.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickperry/3346639291/sizes/z/in/set-72157614992926285/">Rick Perry</a>/Flickr

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A few weeks back, Rick Perry’s presidential campaign floated a daring idea: acknowledging that debates aren’t really his thing, the Texas governor would consider skipping any future GOP candidate confabs. It seemed like an act of desperation, but given his performance on stage in Michigan on Wednesday, it might have been a good idea.

Perry’s shining moment, the one that will likely live on long past Perry’s candidacy, came when he was asked to provide specifics on how he would fix Washington’s business climate. He started strong: “When I get there there’ll be three agencies I’ll end: commerce, education…”

So far, so good. Except Perry’s answer ended there. He grasped, visibly struggling, for the third agency on his list and couldn’t come up with it. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) jumped in, helpfully, to offer that there were actually five agencies that should be abolished, and mentioned the EPA. Perry thought that sounded right, but then reconsidered, noting that he was pretty sure he thought the EPA should be rebuilt, not abolished.

CNBC’s John Harwood asked Perry to clarify. Could he name the third agency he’d abolish?

“No,” Perry said. Long pause. “Oops.”

The answer, it turns out, is “Energy.” Leave your jokes in the comments.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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