Beliefs
By MARK OPPENHEIMER
On Wednesday, in an interview in London, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a potential Republican presidential candidate, sidestepped the question of whether he believed in evolution.
“I’m going to punt on that one,” he said to an audience at a research organization in London, which he was visiting for a trade mission. “I’m here to talk about trade, not to pontificate on other issues. I love the evolution of trade in Wisconsin.”
Mr. Walker’s response was not all that surprising — evolution is a sensitive issue for the evangelical Christian base of the Republican Party and presidential candidates have had to tread carefully around it.
–
Mr. Walker, as it happens, has backpedaled on his anti-evolution stance — sort of.
“Both science & my faith dictate my belief that we are created by God,” he wrote on Twitter, later on Wednesday. “I believe faith & science are compatible, & go hand in hand.”
mark.e.oppenheimer@gmail .com; twitter: @markopp1
A version of this article appears in print on February 14, 2015, on page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: Conservative Politicians Abroad Seem More Accepting of Evolution. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
