Ben Carson said in an interview broadcast late Sunday that Donald Trump endlessly attacks his character because Carson threatens Trump's chances of winning the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination.
“He is obviously very worried about me and constantly tries to denigrate me,” Carson told host Steve Scully during a C-SPAN interview from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“Some people will try to win at all costs,” Carson continued. "That’s what they try to do.
“I’m not one of those people,” the retired neurosurgeon added. "Trying to tear someone else down is not part of the character for me. I’m going to stick to my characters and my principles and talk about the things that are really important.”
Carson was recently neck-and-neck with Trump across multiple national polls.
Trump has expanded his lead over the former doctor, however, by challenging details of Carson's personal history and his national security credentials.
Carson argued Sunday that he is the only person who knows the true account of his life, regardless of Trump’s attacks.
“There may be some dates that are inaccurate, but none of the stories are inaccurate,” he said of his memoir, Gifted Hands.
“I find it rather amusing that as these accusations occur and as they’re debunked, you don’t hear anything about the debunking,” Carson said.
“I believe that’s why it’s done,” he added. "[It is] to raise doubt, to raise suspicion. They don’t care about the veracity or how carefully the research was done.”
Multiple media outlets have raised questions about details of Carson’s personal history, particularly incidents of violence in his youth.
Carson has countered that many journalists are biased against conservatives like himself and have not properly vetted his claims.
Carson argued Sunday that he is the only person who knows the true account of his life, regardless of Trump’s attacks.
Well, Ben, the problem is that you wrote a memoir, a memoir that was supposed to BE the "true account of your life". Anybody who read the memoir is supposed to be a "person who knows the true account of your life".
But apparently that ain't so. You wrote a book about yourself that isn't true. So now we don't know who you are, but we do know that you don't tell the truth; we do know that you exaggerate. We know that we cannot believe you. And that diminishes you in our eyes. We've already got a bunch of politicians lying to us daily. You're an outsider, yes, but do we really need to bring in a naïve outsider who doesn't know how to work the political machine, but who doesn't have any greater honesty than the politicians we are replacing?
No, we don't.
You complain that Trump is attacking you because he is "out to win at any cost".
Well, I want a Commander-in-Chief who is out to win at just about any cost. Of course there are SOME limits, but criticizing you by directly attacking your honesty because you wrote a dishonest book? That is exactly what I want Trump to do. The adversaries of what I believe in politically are CONSTANTLY resorting to personal attacks to try to bring down people who are trying to do what I want to see done.
They keep trying to do it with Trump, but they keep getting caught in their lies.
To win, Trump has to consolidate the non-Establishment vote. He needs Carson's voters. Then he needs Independents and crossover Democrats. It's a fair bet that Trump won't get a quarter of the rank-and-file Establishment GOP, so he has to make up that difference with other voters.
But apparently that ain't so. You wrote a book about yourself that isn't true. So now we don't know who you are, but we do know that you don't tell the truth;
What did he lie about? Can you prove it is a lie? Because you don't really know the truth about Carson.
What did he lie about? Can you prove it is a lie? Because you don't really know the truth about Carson.
Trump would be better off ignoring Carson. Attacking the saintly baby neurosurgeon won't get him far. And Carson's numbers are already diving recently. Trump is stepping on his own feet here.
Trump should be more concerned at the direction the party bosses and cronies and donors are taking in consolidating behind Rubio. Rubio is the much larger threat to Trump.
