Housing Secretary Ben Carson confuses 'REO' with 'Oreo' during congressional hearing

Faced with a question that used a simple real estate term, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson became confused — and appeared to believe he was actually being asked about cookies.

During a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, Carson was asked a question by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) about REOs, which stands for real estate owned.

"Do you know what an REO is?" Porter asked. Carson responded, "An Oreo?"

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Porter clarified that she was not, in fact, asking Carson a cookie-related question, but Carson still sounded unfamiliar with the term, thinking the last letter stood for "organization" after being pressed. The Washington Post's Drew Harwell observed that REO is "literally one of the first terms taught to new real-estate agents" and "one of the defining symbols of the housing crisis."

The term was something Porter found herself having to explain, though, telling Carson, "that's what happens when a property goes to foreclosure: we call it an REO." Watch the strange moment, which Porter herself shared on her Twitter account while expressing bewilderment, below. Brendan Morrow