Don’t Ask Marco Rubio About Science Because He’s Not a Scientist, Man

Posted on Nov 19, 2012

Flickr/Gage Skidmore

Rising Republican star and potential 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio had an interesting response to a question during an interview with GQ magazine about the age of our planet. Claiming he was “not a scientist, man,” the Florida senator said he was not “qualified to answer a question like that.” He added that how old the planet is counts as “one of the great mysteries.”

From the interview:

GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?

Marco Rubio: I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in seven days, or seven actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

For the record, scientists have estimated that Earth is more than 4.5 billion years old.

—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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