Jay Carney Had Absolutely No Idea How to Answer This Question

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney pauses as he speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Credit: AP

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney fielded a seriously loaded question on Wednesday about the moral decline of America, religious liberties that come from Jesus and the Declaration of Independence. Honestly, even if the White House really wanted to answer the long-winded question, it would likely require a very lengthy discussion due to the complexity of the issue.

When Dr. Anthony Harper of the InterMountain Christian News got his chance to ask Carney his question, this is what he went with:

"Regarding religious liberty faith issues, a lot of Christian churches want to know about how this relates to the problems we’re going through as a nation economically and otherwise, that would believe that our religious faith liberties -- faith and religious liberties and life come from Jesus, not man."

"I’m sorry, is -- I didn’t get the question," Carney replied, a little perplexed.

"Oh, I’ll rephrase that," the reporter said. "Basically, the Christian churches in our nation are concerned about the moral decline in our nation and how faith and religious liberty issues and life are crucial, from the Declaration of Independence, and how that they would believe that our rights come from Jesus, not men. How would the administration respond to that?"

Carney didn't provide and official "administration response" to the question, but he did humor the InterMountain Christian News reporter.

"I would tell you that the President, as a man of faith, believes very deeply in the importance that it plays in his life and understands clearly the importance it plays in the lives of so many millions of Americans," he said.

Watch the video of the interaction below (video will start at relevant mark):

Harper is apparently a regular member of the White House Media Pool.

"As a member of the White House Media Pool, I am thankful to GOD for the opportunity to attend White House conferences," Harper writes on the InterMountain Christian News website. "Christians need a prominent voice with our president and other national leadership."

IMCN is a faith-based bi-monthly publication available throughout the "Intermountain region" of Colorado, southern Idaho, Montana, northern Nevada, eastern Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, according to the publication's website. It relies on both paid advertising and donations to cover operation costs.

Featured image via AP. This story has been updated.

(H/T: BuzzFeed)