Rubio clarifies answer on age of Earth

Sen. Marco Rubio tried Wednesday to clear up his stance on the Earth's age, after getting into some hot water when asked about the topic during a magazine interview.

"Science says it's about four and a half billion years old and my faith teaches that that's not inconsistent," the Florida Republican said at a breakfast sponsored by Politico.

"The theological debate is how do you reconcile what science has definitely established with what you think your faith teaches," Rubio continued. "For me, actually, when it comes to the age of the Earth there is no conflict: I believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth and I think scientific advances give us insight into when he did it and how he did it."

In an interview with GQ magazine, Rubio gave a rambling answer that side-stepped the specific question on the Earth's age as he discussed that he is "not a scientist" and acknowledged a "dispute among theologians." He ended his response by saying "it's one of the great mysteries."

Rubio got drubbed in the liberal blogosphere, highlighting the sensitive debate over evolution vs. creationism -- the view that God created the world.

Rubio told the Politico audience on Wednesday that he doesn't "regret" what he told GQ -- but wishes he would have given "a better answer, a more succinct answer." The senator also noted that he was talking to the magazine about hip hop and then the discussion jumped to the age of the Earth.

"I'm not a robot," he said. "I got caught off guard, I guess."