In an interview on PBS’s Newshour with Judy Woodruff, GOP Presidential candidate and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain was asked whether he views China as a potential military threat to the United States. His response was… surprising to say the least.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you view China as a potential military threat to the United States?

HERMAN CAIN: I do view China as a potential military threat to the United States… we already have superiority in terms of our military capability, and I plan to get away from making cutting our defense a priority and make investing in our military capability a priority, going back to my statement: peace through strength and clarity. So yes they’re a military threat. They’ve indicated that they’re trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. So yes, we have to consider them a military threat.

Herman Cain is apparently unaware that China conducted its first test of a nuclear device on October 16th… 1964.

Though China is estimated to have around 400 nuclear weapons stockpiled, including around 20 intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of targeting the United States, they’re a ratifier of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as one of the five “nuclear weapons states” which also obviously includes the United States.

Herman Cain most likely mixed up China with North Korea — I mean, it’s just so easy to forget who America is supposed to hate these days!

While this snafu can be explained away as a simple mix-up, what we can’t figure out is just what kind of math Cain was using when he compared the US’s and China’s economies?

China has a $6 trillion economy and they’re growing at approximately 10 percent. We have a $14 trillion economy — much bigger — but we’re growing at an anemic 1.5, 1.6 percent. When we get our economy growing back at the rate of 5 or 6 percent that it has the ability to do, we will outgrow China.

According to Cain, getting America back on track to a growth rate of 5 to 6 percent will somehow allow the United States to overtake China growing at 10 percent.

Step it up Cain! As the master of the 9-9-9 plan, you’re supposed to be all over the math game!



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