Perry explains debate gaffe with Britney Spears song

Rick Perry, using humor on Thursday to recover from his “oops” moment during Wednesday night’s GOP presidential debate, said the Britney Spears song “Oops, I did it again” came to mind.

Perry called into conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham's show on Thursday morning to discuss the moment when he could not seem to remember the third federal agency he proposed to eliminate as president. Perry said the song, which Ingraham had played previously in the program, came to mind, “not last night but this morning.”


Perry had already made the rounds on the early shows Thursday morning talking about his misstep, which he likened to stepping in something nasty. "I stepped in it and I'm still wiping it off my boots,” he told Ingraham.

"I had a brain freeze for 54 seconds; it seemed like 54 hours,” Perry explained. "I couldn't have knocked it out of there with a sledge hammer last night."

Perry also said his campaign is headed to New York City on Thursday to tape appearances on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and Jon Stewart’s "Daily Show."

"You might as well have a little fun with it when you make a mistake like that,” he said, also noting that his campaign website on Thursday morning is asking people to vote on which part of the government they would “like to forget about the most.”

Ingraham pushed Perry to make a light-hearted appearance mocking himself on Saturday Night Live, and Perry promised to consider her advice.

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