On Wednesday, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky participated in the most idiotic line of questioning during a congressional hearing maybe ever.
During a House committee hearing on climate change, the dangers of which Rep. Massie and many of his GOP colleagues (including President Trump) have foolishly dismissed, the congressman tried to trap former Secretary of State John Kerry, whom the House Democrats had called in as a witness—only to have it backfire in epic fashion.
“[Massie] tried to question Kerry’s credentials—specifically his college degree,” explained Seth Meyers on Thursday’s Late Night. “Kerry has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a common degree that lots of people have, and yet Massie thought it was some kind of brilliant gotcha to point that out, resulting in one of the dumbest lines of questioning in the history of American politics.”
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“It sounds like you’re questioning the credentials of the president’s advisers currently, but I don’t think we should question your credentials today. Isn’t it true you have a science degree from Yale?” Rep. Massie asked Kerry.
“Bachelor of Arts degree,” Kerry replied.
“Is it a political science degree?” said Rep. Massie.
“Yes, political science,” offered Kerry.
“So, how do you get a Bachelor of Arts in a science?” pressed Rep. Massie.
“Well, it’s a liberal arts education and degree… it’s a Bachelor [degree],” Kerry explained.
“OK, so it’s not really science. So, I think it’s somewhat appropriate that someone with a pseudoscience degree is here pushing pseudoscience in front of our committee today,” said Rep. Massie.
“Are you serious? I mean, this is really a serious happening here?” Kerry fired back.
“It is. Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say, it is a serious happening—and that is the perfect phrasing, because this whole Trump era feels like a horror movie called A Serious Happening,” joked Meyers, adding, “This is an actual member of Congress who can’t wrap his head around the fact that you can get a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science! Despite the fact that he himself has a degree from MIT!”
Meyers laughed. “I mean, why stop there, Massie? ‘Senator Kerry, you’re a married man, correct? Then please explain to us how you could possibly have a ‘bachelor’s’ degree?’”
If Rep. Massie really wanted to criticize Kerry’s education (in non-moronic fashion), perhaps he could have mentioned his poor college grades—Kerry had a 76 average at Yale. Then again, Rep. Massie is an outspoken defender of President Trump’s, whose grades apparently weren’t so hot in college either, according to his classmates (not to mention that unlike Kerry, Trump dodged Vietnam thanks to his magically disappearing bone spurs).
