Carson: Dred Scott Ruling Shows POTUS Doesn’t Have To Follow Supreme Court

Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson speaks at Manchester Community College, Sunday, May 10, 2015, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
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Republican presidential candidate and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson cited the Dred Scott Supreme Court ruling to support his argument that the president of the United States wouldn’t have to follow through with a high court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

As TPM previously noted, Carson argued that a ruling by the high court wiping out a series of same-sex marriage bans across wouldn’t make the president go along with such a decision.

Bloomberg Politics pressed Carson on his comments during a gathering in Greenville, South Carolina and Carson cited the court’s 1857 Dred Scott ruling validating slavery to support his claim.

“Probably the best thing to do is go back and read about the Dred Scott case,” Carson said. “And as you know, President Lincoln wasn’t too much in favor of that. And his policies indicated that. Clearly it created a lot of division. We ended up fighting a war over it but in the long run it was the right thing to do.”

As Bloomberg noted, no other presidential candidate has argued that the president could disregard the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage.

Quite the contrary, in fact. Fellow Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina, actually, recently signaled that if she were president she would consider whatever ruling the high court handed down on same-sex marriage final word. Fiorina also said she wouldn’t support a constitutional amendment overturning a ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

“I think the Supreme Court ruling will become the law of the land and however much I may agree or disagree with it, I wouldn’t support an amendment to reverse it,” Fiorina said.

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Notable Replies

  1. When I was in need of a Neurosurgeons’ talents to save my life, I’m delighted that I didn’t go to him.

  2. Someone please revoke this man’s Doctorate! Apparently he has not even a passing understanding of US History. Lincoln had been in office for just over a month when the Civil War began. We didn’t fight a war over any policies Lincoln enacted. Instead, the South went to war because they were terrified of what Lincoln MIGHT POSSIBLY COULD DO ACCORDING TO FEARMONGERERS IN GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS!

    Carson isn’t fit to lead a surgical team let alone this country.

  3. Shame his medical studies weren’t supplemented by a high school civics class.

  4. At this point I don’t know which is worse:

    him spouting things he knows is not true
    or
    him not knowing what he’s spouting isn’t true.

  5. One of these things is not like the other,
    One of these things just doesn’t belong
    Can you guess which thing is not like the other?
    Come on now before my head explodes from such a $%@&$*! stupid comparison

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