After Dr. Ben Carson’s campaign stonewalled CNN reporters trying to track down friends who Carson says he tried to attack as an “angry” youth, the retired neurosurgeon made clear that he wouldn’t aid the network’s investigation either.
CNN took a sweeping look at Carson’s formative years in an article published Thursday. Carson has repeatedly spoken about and written about violent outbursts, included an attempted stabbing, he had as a child before having a religious experience in the bathroom of his Detroit home that set him straight. CNN was unable to corroborate Carson’s recollections after speaking with nine people who either attended school with or grew up with the retired neurosurgeon.
During a Thursday afternoon book tour stop in Miami, a CNN reporter asked Carson to provide more information so that the news outlet could corroborate his recounting of those violent outbursts. His presidential campaign previously declined the news outlet’s repeated requests for additional detail.
“I don’t want to expose people without their knowledge,” Carson responded. “But remember, when I was 14, when the knifing incident occurred, that’s when I changed. That’s when most of those people they talked to began to know who I was. They didn’t know me before that.”
Carson was referring to the people CNN spoke with for its article. However, some of those people knew Carson beginning when he was in elementary school—well before he says he attempted to stab a friend in the ninth grade and subsequently had a religious experience.
The CNN reporter pressed Carson to divulge a little more information about the people he says he attacked when he was as young as “seven or eight” years old.
“Were they friends? Were they neighbors? How would you characterize—because our investigation could not find these people.”
“Well, why would you be able to find them?” Carson responded. “What makes you think you would be able to find them unless I tell you who they are? If they come forward on their own because of your story that’s fine. But I’m not going to expose them.”
He doesn’t want them hammered with questions just hammers.
Pretty soon people will start howling “leave Ben Carson aloooone” while being perfectly comfortable with how every iota of Obama’s history was poured over. (Rev. Wright, Saul Alinsky, not a real US American, etc.)
“Find Jimmy Hoffa and you will find the people I attacked in my youth,” Carson added.
Pyramids, knifings, Jews just needs guns in WWII, Obamacare is worse then slavery… The man is a walking, talking, ad for his opponents. We could be looking at the worst presidential candidate in modern times. He never walks his idiocy back. One wonders if he has anyone in his campaign to reign him in. I’m thinking that he doesn’t.
Not to forget–he’s vying for the lead nationally. Well as far as Republican’s go that is. I’d love to see him debate Hilary.
I think what is going on here is the tendency of RWNJ to tell little fables to make a stronger point. In this case, he wanted to show how a violent, troubled youth was transformed to a gentle, talented doctor by his faith in God, His problem is that now that he is running for president, people are going to go back and fact check him, something that had a very small chance of happening before.