Ever the historian, Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield dished on a variety of topics with Sirius XM radio host Michelangelo Signorile today, and in the process revealed his belief that AIDS happened because a gay airline pilot had sex with a (gay?) monkey:

Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community — it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall. My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex...very rarely [transmitted]. What's the average lifespan of a homosexual? it's very short. Google it yourself."

If your brain is reeling from that statement, that's because Campfield's words are such pure-grade bullshit that their gravity becomes infinitely dense, warping space-time to plunge readers 30 years into the past to an era where the lack of information on AIDS fueled a panic that is, unfortunately, alive and well in the state's 7th District Senate office.

Pith has called Campfield's office to see if he has joined the rest of the world in the 21st century in the time since his remarks were made, but we have yet to hear back.

Click here to listen to the entire interview.