Watch American University students fail to name single U.S. senator
"I'm not big into the whole America thing," one student joked
Can you name one person currently serving in the United States Senate?
That's what more than a dozen students on the American University campus ― in the nation's capital, no less ― were recently asked by the conservative Media Research Center.
Just one did. The rest struggled mightily.
"Um. This is sad," one unidentified female student said.
"No, I won't even," said another.
"I don't even know," another said. "I try to stay out of politics."
"Nancy Pelosi?" a backward-capped male student said before taking it back. "No, she's speaker of the house. No, I can't."
"Bernie Frank?"
That would be former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. He served in Congress for more than 20 years — none as a senator.
Eventually, they were able to find a student who knew one.
"Rand Paul," the student said.
The students were also asked if they knew how many senators each U.S. state has.
"Senators in each state?" one answered. "12 ... 13?"
"Five?"
"I'm not big into the whole America thing," one student joked.
Sadly, the same students fared better with a pop culture question: "What is the name of the hit song from the movie 'Frozen'?"
"'Let It Go'!" several students correctly, and quickly, answered.
But don't feel too bad, American University. Last fall, Harvard students were asked to name the capital of Canada. Their answers ranged from "I don't know," "I have no idea" and "Oh my God, it's really bad I don't know" to "Alberta — no, that's not right," "probably Vancouver or something," "is it Toronto?" and "I'm sorry, Canada."
The correct answer is Ottawa, Canada's fourth largest city and center of government, as selected by Queen Victoria in 1857. Just don't ask Harvard kids to tell you that.
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