Carson: Voters must dismiss ‘propaganda’
GOP hopeful says many in media want to bring him down.
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson warned a friendly crowd at a Virginia Baptist college Wednesday to be on guard for “propaganda” as the 2016 campaign intensifies.
Carson, who draws considerable support from evangelical Christians, told about 12,000 people at Liberty University that, “many in the media want to bring me down, because I represent something that they can’t stand.”
His statement comes after a week of reports questioning various parts of the personal narrative that has helped propel the retired neurosurgeon to the forefront of the Republican primary field.
He did not venture into the details of those stories Wednesday, which he had dismissed with humor Tuesday night in Milwaukee at the GOP’s fourth primary debate.
“Thank you for not asking me what I said in the 10th grade. I appreciate that,” he told the moderators, adding, “People who know me know that I’m an honest person.”
Among the questions about his autobiography have been his statements that he was offered a scholarship to West Point. Carson did not apply to the U.S. Military Academy, which does not offer scholarships. West Point does not charge tuition or fees to those who receive an appointment to attend the school.
Carson’s campaign has said he was a top ROTC student in high school, and his supervisors told him they could help him get an appointment.
In Virginia on Wednesday, Carson told reporters he believed the debate “went very well” and revolved around “issues that are important” to voters.
Addressing Liberty students, Carson stuck mostly to his standard campaign speech, framing it for his young crowd. The nation’s fiscal balance sheet, he warned, is a mortal threat.
“We have a little time to get our house in order, but not a lot of time,” he said. “The financial situation is very precarious. If we don’t do something about it soon, and it collapses, what happened in 1929 on Wall Street will be a walk in the park.”
He pitched his flat tax proposal, which is based loosely on the biblical concept of tithing. “The reason I liken it to tithing is because I believe God is the fairest individual there is,” he said.
Carson aides promise that he will unveil a detailed tax-and-budget plan in the coming weeks. He repeated Wednesday that he would do away with the most popular personal income tax deductions, those for mortgage interest and charitable contributions. And he said he’d maintain a “rebate” for taxpayers “at the poverty level,” but was not specific.
Never having run for office, Carson has joined another electoral novice, businessman Donald Trump, at the top of polls both nationally and in early voting states.