On Sunday's Good Morning America, ABC co-host Bianna Golodryga declared that "it seems Americans still can't forget" GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry's "53-second brain freeze" from last week's debate as she and This Week host Christiane Amanpour discussed Saturday night's GOP debate hosted by CBS News.
Golodryga then played a clip of NBC's Saturday Night Live making fun of Perry's memory lapse using an impersonator, and then followed up by asking if Perry "will ever be able to live down those 53 seconds?"
After bringing aboard Amanpour, Golodryga began the segment:
So all eyes were on Rick Perry. He had a relatively fumble-free performance, a solid night, and he took a tough stance on foreign policy, national security. But it seems Americans still can't forget what happened last week with that 53-second brain freeze, including Saturday Night Live. Let's take a look.
Then came a clip from Saturday Night Live, with Bill Hader playing the part of Rick Perry:
Debates are hard. Right, guys? It's a department that has zoos and parades. Might be that? No? Does it start with an "m" or an "x"? Is there an "x" in there maybe? is it trains, trains? No, you can't cut trains.
Golodryga continued:
And Rick Perry spent some time poking fun at himself last night, as well. But the big question is, will he be able to live down those 53 seconds?
Amanpour thought that Perry appeared to still be in "damage control" mode:
You know, Bianna, it looked like he was still on damage control. After that 53-second brain freeze on Wednesday night, he did do a huge amount of performances and appearances on television from morning to night, and it was all designed to try to recoup what he had lost.
The host of This Week continued:
The real issue is, though, his poll numbers are fairly low. They have been even before the Wednesday night performance. And because that was so viral, and that is now so imprinted, not just on the American counsciousness, but also around the world it's hard to know whether, in fact, that moment can be recovered. But I think, importantly, it's not just that, it's the poll numbers as well that you have to look at. They're very low.
-Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center