Sorry, Jeb Bush: Pope Francis actually is a scientist

Jeb Bush alluded on Thursday that Pope Francis should refrain from speaking about climate change because he "is not a scientist."

"He is a religious leader that I admire greatly," Bush told reporters in Bristol, Virginia. Later, he said "creatures are divinely inspired, which is the Pope's view, he's not a scientist, he's a religious leader." Bush would not directly say that the pope was wrong to talk about global warming (on Thursday, the pontiff called on Congress to take "courageous actions and strategies" to fight climate change), but he did speak out against President Obama's approach. "Put aside Pope Francis on the subject of any political conversation," he said. "I oppose the president's policy as it relates to climate change because it will destroy the ability to re-industrialize the country, to allow for people to get higher wage jobs, for people to rise up."

While Bush is correct that the pope is in fact a religious leader, a quick Google search (which anyone can do, not just people who work at Google) leads to his official biography, showing the pontiff studied to be a chemical technician and briefly worked as a chemist before joining the priesthood. Catherine Garcia

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