Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told reporters Tuesday that he didn’t think Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was referring to him when saying other Republicans should quit the 2016 race.
Walker announced Monday evening that he was dropping out of the GOP race, and he urged other candidates to do the same in order to find someone credible to defeat the party’s primary frontrunner, real estate mogul Donald Trump.
“I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same so the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive, conservative alternative to the current frontrunner,” Walker added.
But Carson, speaking from Ohio the following morning, said he didn’t think Walker’s comments were directed at him.
“I know that’s not what the message is. When he said the ‘current frontrunner,’ it was clear who he was talking about,” Carson said. “He is talking about making sure we get a true conservative. I don’t think he thinks that I’m not a true conservative.”
Carson had said Sunday that he “would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation” and faced criticism from many of his GOP rivals.
