Got him! Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

On Wednesday, Republican congressman Thomas Massie tried to trap former secretary of State John Kerry with one of the most inane “gotcha” questions imaginable. Kerry was appearing before a House committee to testify about the dangers of climate change, which Massie, like so many in his party, has dismissed as a threat. So Massie tried to dent Kerry’s credibility on the subject by revealing the shocking fact that Kerry’s degree from Yale (he graduated in 1966 ) was in — prepare yourselves, ladies and gentlemen of the jury — political science, not science science.

Watch this for your morning laugh. @RepThomasMassie is apparently serious but this is the dumbest line of questioning in committee this year, and that’s hard to do. pic.twitter.com/QIuaPuzCbA — Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) April 10, 2019

John Kerry is not a master of comic timing, but his response — “Are you serious? Is this really serious? This is really happening here?” — hit the mark.

Massie, a Kentuckian who holds a robotics degree from MIT, which you wouldn’t guess from watching the exchange, was roundly mocked online all day. (Rolling Stone’s representative headline: “Is This the Dumbest Moment in Congressional History”?) So, on Thursday, the Congressman attempted to argue that the ridicule directed at him was all a product of leftist distortion. You see, if Kerry had turned his damn microphone on, Massie’s brilliant line of questioning would have been seen as the master class it was, and the guy who helped negotiate the Paris Climate Accord would have slunk off in shame.

When I asked Kerry if he had a science degree, he answered “no” but forgot to turn his microphone on. The left has been using his flub to conceal what this exchange proved which is Kerry admitted he doesn’t have a science degree, even though his degree says “science” https://t.co/ZWqQOOJndA — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 11, 2019

Game, set, match, Massie!