Buttering up his February 12 guest Boris Johnson -- there to plug his new book on Churchill -- Hardball host Chris Matthews told the London mayor that he's eligible to run for president, given that he was born on U.S. soil. But Matthews apparently forgot the residency stipulation in the Constitution, one criterion that Johnson doesn't meet.

"By the way, you're eligible to run for president... you were born here," Matthews noted, interrupting Johnson while he was recalling why his parents gave him a Russian first name.

Johnson , born in 1964 in New York City and has both British and American citizenship. As such, Johnson satisfied two of the three constitutional requirements for presidential eligibility. But, alas, he lacks the third as he has not "been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States (Article II, Section 1, Clause 5)."

Johnson lived for about five years in the States but moved back with his family to the United Kingdom in 1969. Johnson has mostly lived in the UK since, although he did live for a time in Belgium. Assuming the Constitution's 14-year residency requirement is cumulative -- and there's historical precedent for that one -- and not necessarily consecutive, Johnson would have to establish residency in the United States and live here another nine years before being eligible to serve as president.

In addition to brushing up on his civics, Mr. Matthews may wish to take a remedial science class. In an effort to lambaste Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) as an anti-science nimrod for dodging a question in London about whether he believes in evolution, Matthews asked Johnson for his thoughts on American conservative politicians and why they often dodge the gotcha question and rebuked him for calling evolution a "theory" (emphasis mine):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: You're a Tory. You're a Conservative. Why, what do you make of an American who won't just like in that show we just saw -- what is Scott Walker who I thought is a pretty OK guy, why is he afraid of saying I believe in science?.... What's he afraid of? BORIS JOHNSON: The theory of evolution, as you know was propounded and posited -- MATTHEWS: It's not a theory! It's not a theory! JOHNSON: --in, in, London. It was [a theory] when Charles Darwin came up with it. And where was he? He was in Bromley. Come to London, come to Bromley, I advise everybody to come to London and see the people of Bromley and understand why Charles Darwin came up with the idea of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. It's all there.

Once again, Matthews betrays his scientific ignorance as to what is meant when we talk about a scientific theory. Take it away, LiveScience.com (emphasis mine):