Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said that Mike Pence called Texas a “city.” He did, in fact, call it a “state,” and Rick Perry corrected him to say it’s a “country.”
Rick Perry corrected U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence about his home state as he was sworn in as energy secretary on Thursday.
“Country,” he said, when Pence called it a state.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Energy was sworn into the job after the Senate voted 62 to 37 in his favour.
Perry was appointed to the position after a confirmation hearing that became notable after he made an unintentional joke about Democratic Sen. Al Franken.
READ MORE: Rick Perry, Al Franken share awkward ‘couch’ moment during Senate confirmation hearing
“Governor, thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me?” Franken asked him.
“I hope you’re as much fun on that dais as you were on your couch,” Perry responded, prompting laughter from members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and others.
“Well, I think we found our Saturday Night Live soundbites,” Perry added, referencing the late-night comedy show on which Franken used to star.
Perry served as governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015, the longest tenure in the state’s history.
The job of energy secretary will see him oversee a department that works to “ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.”
In his confirmation hearing, Perry said he would focus on renewing the U.S.’s nuclear weapons arsenal – consistent with Trump’s mission to put the arsenal at the “top of the pack.”
READ MORE: Trump team’s climate change witch hunt ignored by U.S. Energy Department
Perry had previously launched a presidential campaign after he sought the Republican nomination in 2012.
At that time, he took part in a debate in which he struggled to recall the names of the departments he would shut down as president.
The Department of Energy was the one he forgot to name. He said he regretted calling for the department’s elimination at his confirmation hearing.
With files from Reuters
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