Rick Perry got caught in another “oops” moment on Friday, flubbing both the number of Justices on the Supreme Court and the name of one of President Obama’s appointees.
In an interview with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register, Perry criticized the “eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges” on the Supreme Court, briefly forgetting there are nine members.
In the same meeting, Perry also struggled to recall the name of Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s first appointee to the Court. From ABC News’ account:
“When you see his appointment of two, from my perspective, inarguably activist judges whether it was …” Perry said in the Des Moines Register editorial board meeting, pausing for six seconds. “Not Montemayor …”“Sotomayor,” a member of the editorial board interrupted.
“Sotomayor, Sotomayor,” Perry said. “And Kagan are both activist judges.”
Perry’s brain freezes have been a tough problem for the candidate. After widespread mockery for forgetting which three agencies he would eliminate as president mid-debate in November, Perry released his own ad making fun of the moment to try to control the damage.
Benjy Sarlin
Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun.
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