The 4 Types Of Conservative Reactions To Ben Carson’s West Point Fail

The conservative landscape appeared divided Friday after the Ben Carson campaign admitted that his stories about an offer to attend West Point on a full scholarship were false.

A number of commentators defended the retired neurosurgeon from what they perceived as another hit from the liberal media, and some invoked the reliable bogeymen of the Benghazi attacks in the process. But others saw the admission as a damaging revelation, if not a death knell, for the retired neurosurgeon’s front-of-the-pack campaign.

Politico on Friday reported that West Point has no record of Carson ever applying or being extended an offer to the school. The U.S. military covers covers the costs of admission for all students, as well, so not even late Gen. William Westmoreland could have offered the young ROTC officer a “full scholarship,” as Carson claimed.

“He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors,” campaign manager Barry Bennett told Politico. “They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission.”

Blaming the media

Businessman and former presidential candidate Herman Cain seemed to think Politico’s article amounted to a hit piece. And he wasn’t alone:

https://t.co/S3LZIRqcxY

— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) November 6, 2015

Even I didn’t think Politico could be this bad. On further review, Carson didn’t “lie.” What a BS hit piece. https://t.co/wtnmty6Fmj

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 6, 2015

Some journalists and commentators deflected the conversation to examples where they believed the media gave Democratic politicians a pass on their past statements:

This is how NYT covered it when Richard Blumenthal, CT’s senior senator, admitted he lied about serving in Vietnam. pic.twitter.com/GeGPJAOtlI

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 6, 2015

Obama freely admitted creating composite characters in Dreams From My Father. Media didn’t examine some until Maraniss book.

— Byron York (@ByronYork) November 6, 2015

A number of writers also took issue with the language used in Politico’s scoop. They doubted that Carson ever specifically said that he submitted an application to West Point, as the article stated. That semantic distinction doesn’t take into account the offer of a “full scholarship,” however.

Where did Ben Carson say/write that he applied to West Point? Not in piece. https://t.co/abnmix24LH

— Vince Coglianese (@TheDCVince) November 6, 2015

Not sure if Carson story as big as ppl acting so long as it is true he met w Westmoreland & he said if u apply, ur in, all costs covered 1/2

— Jamie Weinstein (@Jamie_Weinstein) November 6, 2015

If it can be shown the Westmoreland meeting never happened, that’s an entirely different story. 2/2

— Jamie Weinstein (@Jamie_Weinstein) November 6, 2015

But Benghazi!

Naturally, there were those who believed Carson’s West Point fabrication was nothing compared to Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s “lies” about the 2012 Benghazi attacks.

Compare media coverage of Ben Carson’s West Point ‘lie’ to Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi video ‘lie’. That is your proof of media bias.

— Andrew Kugle (@Google_Kugle20) November 6, 2015

Ben Carson’s stories of violence in his past questioned https://t.co/1L1DC7fMtj >> Unlike Hillary and Obama’s Benghazi night.

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) November 6, 2015

A friend quips: ‘If only Ben Carson had lied about that West Point scholarship in an email to Hillary Clinton, nobody would know about it.’

— Mary Kissel (@marykissel) November 6, 2015

He’s toast

A number of conservative media figures agreed that the Politico scoop would create trouble for the Carson campaign. The retired neurosurgeon had already come under scrutiny from CNN, which was was unable to corroborate stories the candidate told about the violent outbursts he had as a youth. Carson copped Thursday to changing some of the details in those stories, particularly the time he attempted to stab a friend in the ninth grade.

This is very bad https://t.co/VtwcG9uv7z

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) November 6, 2015

Well, Ben Carson is now qualified to anchor news for MSNBC with Brian Williams.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 6, 2015

This is the point at which the Herman Cain campaign arc starts to come into view. https://t.co/nGWHcBCN98

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) November 6, 2015

Whether you agree with the CNN story or the Politico story, the Carson campaign hasn’t been able to put down either story. Not good.

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) November 6, 2015

Nov. 6, 2015: Trump’s nomination, America’s greatness, secured

— Andrew Stiles (@AndrewStilesUSA) November 6, 2015

The U-turn

Breitbart’s John Nolte was quick to say that he wouldn’t defend Carson in this instance:

However, Nolte deleted that tweet after other conservative writers contested the language and framing of Politico’s story.

I’m deleting my tweets about Carson and West Point.

Politico’s “reporting” does not come close to matching its headline.

— John Nolte (@NolteNC) November 6, 2015

Politico’s gunna Politico.

— John Nolte (@NolteNC) November 6, 2015

Conservative pundit Erick Erickson, too, backed off a column he wrote about the West Point story titled “The Beginning of Ben Carson’s End.”

“Carson’s life story has been a central point of his appeal and the West Point story has been part of that appeal,” Erickson wrote. “If the other campaigns and the media can go after Carson on trust, his campaign is finished.”

He later retitled the column “Hitting the Brakes on the Ben Carson Story” and argued the retired neurosurgeon “has more wiggle room on this story than the Politico suggested.” Erickson also wrote that Carson’s book didn’t claim he “applied and was accepted” to West Point.

This post has been updated.