What will help prevent sexual assault? Expanding use of fossil fuels, Rick Perry says

If you want to prevent sexual assault, Rick Perry seems to have a suggestion — expand the use of fossil fuels.

Perry, the Secretary of Energy under President Donald Trump, made the comments at a discussion about energy policy hosted by Chuck Todd from “Meet the Press” and AXIOS founder Jim VandeHei.

Perry was talking about a recent trip to Africa, where he said he met a young girl who said “one of the reasons that electricity is so important to me is not only because I’m not going to have to try and read by the light of a fire and have those fumes literally killing people,” according to a tweet from Timothy Cama, a reporter for the Hill.

Perry then said that expanding use of fossil fuels to the continent of Africa may reduce the number of sexual assault cases there.

“But also from the standpoint of sexual assault,” Perry said, according to the Hill. “When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will, on those types of acts.”

“So from the standpoint of how you really affect people’s lives, fossil fuels is going to play a role in that,” he continued. “I think it’s going to play a positive role.”

The New York Daily News reported on the comments and Mark Hand, a reporter from ThinkProgress at the event, also tweeted about what Perry said.

Immediately, Twitter responded.

Perry, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2012 and again in 2016, is no stranger to controversial comments.

He released a now-removed ad for his 2012 presidential campaign, in which he decried President Obama’s “war on religion” and complained about social advancement for the LGBT community.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school,” he said in the ad, according to Bustle. “As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion, and I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.”

The video, titled “Strong,” received 33,000 likes and 859,000 dislikes on YouTube.

And during a 2011 GOP presidential primary debate, Perry was listing three federal departments he wanted to eliminate — but could only remember two.

“It’s three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone — Commerce, Education and the, um, what’s the third one there? Let’s see,” he said, as reported by Time. “The third agency of government I would do away with—the education, uh, the, uh, commerce and let’s see. I can’t—the third one. Sorry. Oops.”

The third one he forgot was the Department of Energy, which he now runs.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 11:19 AM with the headline "What will help prevent sexual assault? Expanding use of fossil fuels, Rick Perry says."