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 on Tuesday became confused — and appeared to believe he was actually being asked about cookies.

Carson during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee 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?"

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 reporter 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 to him, 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.

I asked @SecretaryCarson about REOs - a basic term related to foreclosure - at a hearing today. He thought I was referring to a chocolate sandwich cookie. No, really. pic.twitter.com/cYekJAkRag

— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) May 21, 2019