Is Ben Carson's political campaign a complete fraud?
Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-politician, may have gifted hands in the operating room when operating on conjoined twins, but politics is not his thing. In a line of work where people are known to lie, embellish, stretch the truth and engage in artistic license, even Dr. Carson has gone over the line.
It is clear that the second-place candidate in the race for the GOP presidential nomination has a problem with inconsistencies regarding his biography and outright lies about his affiliations.
The most recent example of the doctor’s “credibility gap” was his claim that he had received a “full scholarship” from West Point. However, Carson did not even apply to West Point. Now, had he actually applied to the prestigious military institution, that would have been one thing. He could have slipped by with that one, except for the fact that there is no such thing as landing a full scholarship at West Point, since there is no tuition at the military academy.
West Point-gate would be enough for Carson, but then there is his role as snake oil-salesman for Mannatech, the Texas-based nutritional supplement maker. The National Review calls his relationship with the company a “troubled” one, given the fact he touted the benefits of their “glyconutrient” products, even though they do not work. Mannatech claimed their supplements improved the condition of a boy who was already dead and whose family filed suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent misrepresentation, and conspiracy to commit fraud. The man cannot even admit he had an arrangement with the firm. And then in 2011, he claimed Mannatech paid money for an endowed chair in his name at Johns Hopkins, of which there is no record. But Carson’s experience as a snake oil pitchman prepared him well for his latest gig as a sideshow act in the Republican primary clown car, in which people such as he, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz offer nothing more than entertainment, no substance, and playing loose with the facts.
In addition, parts of Carson’s biography have come under scrutiny. For example, in his autobiography Gifted Hands, he recalls an incident as a student at Yale in which his psychology professor decided to test the honesty of his class by telling them that their final exams had burned and they would have to retake the test. According to Carson, the entire class walked out except for him once they realized the retest was much harder. He said he received a $10 award for being “the most honest student in the class,” and his photo was taken for the Yale Daily Record. However, there is no record of the existence of the class, much less of an article in the school newspaper.
In addition, Carson also claimed that as a high school student, during a riot, black students attacked white students and Carson hid some of the white students in a biology lab. Once again, it did not happen.
Moreover, Ben Carson may have become the first politician caught lying about having a violent past and an uncontrollable “pathological temper.” In his book, Carson claims that he, among other things, “was trying to kill somebody.” He said that he punched a classmate in the face with a lock, leaving a large gash in the boy’s forehead, hurled a large rock at another boy and stabbed yet another in the stomach with a knife, and attacked his mother with a hammer. Yet nine people who knew Carson growing up have come forward to say he did not display any signs of anger or violence.
And to make things worse, Carson has exhibited incredible ignorance on the issues, suggesting there should be a religious test for office and a Muslim should not be elected to the White House or that Islam is incompatible with the Constitution — when in this secular society, Christianity is no more compatible. Carson has shown difficulty in understanding the difference between the budget and the debt limit, as conservatives have pointed out. In addition, Carson offered that the Holocaust would have been prevented if the Jewish people in Nazi Germany had guns, showing an ignorance of history and blaming the victims. Moreover, the doctor has problems understanding scientific concepts, believing being gay is a choice and calling the Big Bang theory a “ridiculous” idea.
Oh yeah, and now he argues that Joseph in the Bible built the Egyptian pyramids to store grain.
With so many discrepancies, so many holes in his stories, can we believe anything this man says? Was he really a neurosurgeon? Did he really operate on people? Carson is worse than Trump, and that’s saying a lot. Time for him to go.
Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove.
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