Political headlines and televised Republican debates have made Ben Carson a well-known name to many. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon running for the presidential nomination within the Republican party. Similar to Donald Trump, Carson doesn’t have much experience with politics. Additionally, Carson’s controversial viewpoints on various topics lead many to believe he also doesn’t have much experience with common sense.
Below is a collection of Carson’s mindlessly babbled statements in random order…. because they are honestly all so cringe-worthy that it would be impossible to sort them through any definitive ranking.
Carson commented on Oregon shooting victims' responses, saying "I would not just stand there and let him shoot me."
Skip to :50 on video
On the Fox program, "Fox & Friends", Carson claimed if he was presented with a gun to his head, he would “not just stand there and let him shoot me.” Carson went on to say he would lead those around him to fight against the gunman, “Hey, guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all."
Luckily for Carson, he wasn’t at the shooting in Oregon. Unluckily for Carson is the story he told about a shooting he was present for and the cowardly way in which he handled the incident.
According to the "New York Times": “Mr. Carson told a radio station that an armed robber had stuck a gun in his ribs at a Popeyes restaurant in Baltimore, and that he had told the man, ‘I believe you want the guy behind the counter'.”
The incident, which took place in the 1980s, has not been verified or denied by the Baltimore Police Department. However, to imply that unarmed victims are cowardly for not fighting off an armed gunman is a shameful and disgraceful claim. Additionally, telling an anecdote where Carson himself admits that in a shooting he convinced the shooter to target someone else, paints the surgeon as a hypocrite and awful human being in general.
Once upon a time, Carson compared the Founding Fathers to ISIS terrorists...
During the 2015 Republican National Committee winter meeting, Carson remarked:
“A bunch of rag-tag militiamen defeated the most powerful and professional military force on the planet. Why? Because they believed in what they were doing. They were willing to die for what they believed in. Fast forward to today. What do we have? You’ve got ISIS. They’ve got the wrong philosophy, but they’re willing to die for it while we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness. We have to change that.”
It doesn’t take more than a few Google searches to check and see that the likes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and company, did not create a religious-affiliated militant group that dismantles cultural heritage sights and publically slaughters members of other nations and groups as part of an aspiring world wide take over, similar to ISIS. The Founding Fathers did not commit terrorist acts against any and all against democracy in the same way ISIS slaughters all religious followers who are in favor of democracy.
Additionally, Republicans typically praise the Constitution to the end of the Earth and back. The Constitution is a document penned by our Founding Fathers. One would think Carson would consider which political party he is aiming to receive a presidential nomination from before making such bizarre and inaccurate comparisons.
Carson claims that he believes the pyramids were used to store grains.
In a 1998 commencement speech given by Carson at Andrews University, Carson shared his theory :
"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain. Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs' graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it. And I don't think it'd just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain."
He brought up the pyramids a second time within his speech...
"[W]hen you look at the way that the pyramids are made, with many chambers that are hermetically sealed, they'd have to be that way for various reasons. And various of scientists have said, 'Well, you know there were alien beings that came down and they have special knowledge and that's how--' you know, it doesn't require an alien being when God is with you."
Giving good ole Ben the benefit of the doubt, CBS News asked if he wished to comment on his pyramid theory now that it’s 2015.
Carson responded by stating, “The pyramids were made in a way that they had hermetically sealed compartments....You would need that if you were trying to preserve grain for a long period of time."
Grains, Ben...grains?! Are you just going to blatantly disregard any and all mummy findings by archeologists, all hieroglyphics and all the treasures found within the pyramids? It is also strange that Ben is talking about aliens and God in the same breath regarding the pyramids. Did Carson forget that he is a Seventh Day Adventist, not a Scientologist? Someone take this man back to his leader, I beg of you.
Ben Carson believes that if you wear a suit and tie, similar to President Obama, you are, indeed, a psychopath.
...Sorry you must find out this way.
During an on-air interview after Obama’s sixth State of the Union address, Armstrong Williams discussed Obama’s attire and presence with Ben Carson.
Williams remarked, "He looks good; he looks clean. Shirt’s white. The tie. He looks elegant."
To this Carson retorted, "Like most psychopaths, that’s why they’re successful. That’s the way they look. They all look great."
I’m sorry, but do not all politicians, businessmen and professionals, dress in clean, professional attire? Does Ben Carson not wear suitz and ties just as Obama does? Are we all secretly psychopaths when we act like professionals? I guess so. We’re all just a bunch of “American Psycho” Christian Bales living in Carson’s world.
Carson felt the needs to lie in his autobiography about being offered a full scholarship from West Point Military Academy
Ben Carson, in his autobiography and on campaign speeches, has claimed several times that he turned away a full scholarship from West Point.
Such a claim is peculiar since:
A) Carson never actually applied to West Point and
B) the taxpayer-funded academy does not offer “full scholarships." All cadets have their education fully funded by the Army in exchange for active duty after graduation.
Carson commented recently to the “ New York Times ” about the controversy,
“I don’t remember all the specific details. Because I had done so extraordinarily well you know I was told that someone like me – they could get a scholarship to West Point. But I made it clear I was going to pursue a career in medicine.”
“It was, you know, an informal ‘with a record like yours, we could easily get you a scholarship to West Point.'”
One would think that a man bright enough to perform brain surgery would be more clear about his claims regarding a scholarship that was never formally offered to him before making it part of his autobiography.
Carson believes Obamacare is the worst thing since slavery
In October 2013, during a speech at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., Carson stated,
“You know, Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery, and it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care. It was about control.”
Obamacare, though flawed in many ways, does not lynch, labor or strip people of their most basic rights. As a supposedly intelligible African-American neurosurgeon, one would hope Ben Carson would realize the significant differences between a controversial piece of legislation and the act of treating humans as property….”hope” being the key word here.
Carson fabricated a story about a time he tried to kill a fellow classmate and friend
In Carson’s autobiography “You Have A Brain” (ironic, no?), Carson claims that in junior high school he would have violent spells. During one tantrum, Carson claims to have tried to stab him friend, but was unsuccessful due to the blade of his knife getting caught in the boy’s belt buckle-- resulting in the blade breaking (really?).
“I had almost killed him,” Mr. Carson wrote. “I had almost killed my friend.”
To verify these claims, CNN interviewed nine childhood neighbors and classmates of Carson. All those who gave testimonials commented that they did not remembered any of the violent moments that Carson wrote of. Majority described him as a “quiet, bookish student” according to the “New York Times.”
Why would anyone in their right mind fabricate a story where they are seen in a negative light? Most politicians lie to make their character seem morally sound. Carson lies to seem as if he was a troubled youth, which is something that would hurt his campaign rather than help it. Is it wise to have a candidate for the presidency who is clearly a compulsive liar? I’m thinking no. I would not let this man perform surgery on me, let alone run the country I reside in.
Carson on Advanced Placement High School History Courses, “I think most people, when they finish that course, they’d be ready to go sign up for ISIS.”
Carson criticizes textbooks for not spending more time on the life of George Washington (THE Founding Father, you know those same ones who are just like ISIS according to Carson) in AP History textbooks.
It is important to be taught the nation’s shortcomings, as well as the nation’s successes, so future leaders and citizens can help to make the nation less imperfect. This by no means makes AP History students less patriotic or terrorists, just well-informed realists.
Carson has also been quoted comparing the IRS to the Nazi Gestapo, as well as claiming that evolution is supported by Satan.
My question for Carson would be, how does one perform surgery and run for the presidency without a brain?
I would never tell someone who to vote for. But for the love of God, please do NOT vote for "Doctor" Ben Carson.