Rick Perry, the man Donald Trump appointed as Energy Secretary of the US, has made the bold claim that using "righteous" electricity from fossil fuels will lead to fewer rapes.
The former governor of Texas was famously considered an unusual choice to lead the US Energy Department as he had previously said he wanted to eliminate it.
Perry, an enthusiastic supporter of extracting fossil fuels despite the ecological risks such mining can pose, made the sexual assault prevention claim in front of NBC cameras.
"[People are dying] in Africa, because of the lack of energy that they have. It's going to take fossil fuels to push power out into those villages in Africa," Perry said.
"A young girl told me to my face, '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, but also from the standpoint of sexual assault'.
"When the lights are on, when you have the 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. I happen to think it's going to play a positive role."
The Sierra Club, an environmental organisation in the US, is calling for Perry's resignation over the claim.
"It was already clear that Rick Perry is unfit to lead the Department of Energy, but to suggest that fossil fuel development will decrease sexual assault is not only blatantly untrue, it is an inexcusable attempt to minimize a serious and pervasive issue," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.
"He does not deserve to hold office another day with these twisted ideas, and he should resign from his position immediately before he causes any more damage."
Perry has not responded to criticisms, but called the event where he was filmed making the comments a "lively discussion" on Twitter.
Newshub.
