Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said Friday morning that South Carolina will be “the turning point” for his flagging presidential campaign.
“It’s a long race. It’s a nine-inning game, we don’t call it after the second inning,” Carson told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts. “We’re going to do just fine and I think South Carolina will be the turning point.”
TPM’s PollTracker Average puts Carson in fifth place with 8.8 percent support in the South Carolina primary.
When asked about the most important issues to South Carolina voters, Carson slammed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“People don’t understand that our financial foundation is crumbling and when somebody comes along and says ‘Free college for everyone.’ Everybody says, ‘Oh, wow, this is great.’ They have no idea we’re just marching off the cliff,” he said.
Carson said the tactics by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during the Iowa caucus nights were “despicable” but “water under the bridge.”
Carson also dismissed his eighth place finish in the New Hampshire Republican primary. (This put him behind New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former technology executive Carly Fiorina. Both have suspended their campaigns.)
“I had no expectation of doing well in New Hampshire and, you know, a lot of people who spent millions of dollars there and many, many weeks there didn’t do that well, either,” Carson said. “I was able to foresee that and you have to pick your battles.”
