Dr Ben Carson in particular has become the target of mockery for his absurd claims that Egypt’s pyramids were built for grain storage by the biblical Joseph. What is unusual is the candor of those who are tutoring him about the physician’s struggle to master the subject. Even that amount of knowledge is arguably superfluous given that no one who’s supporting Carson is doing so because of foreign policy.
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Ben Carson is running the most unorthodox of campaigns – and, yes, I am including Donald Trump in that calculation.
After an adviser claimed he needed weekly briefings.
After Mr. Carson struggled on “Fox News Sunday” to say whom he would call first to form a coalition against the Islamic State, Mr. Clarridge called Mr. Williams, the candidate’s top adviser, in frustration.
His heroics as a surgeon are proof of his intellect. Yet his recent stumbles highlight a vulnerability: that even a stellar medical career can’t easily overcome the rigors of a presidential campaign. During the Reagan administration, he helped found the agency’s Counterterrorism Center and ran the C.I.A.’s Latin American division.
Once we issue our paper, there will be no more questions, said Carson adviser Doug Watts. Clarridge added that Carson required weekly foreign policy briefings so “we can make him smart”.
On Facebook, where the campaign connects to its vast grass-roots army, two of his top campaign aides posted a video Monday highlighting his “Fox News Sunday” interview with no hint of Carson’s private acknowledgment that he had performed poorly.
Hey, lay off! He said he wants to “take back the areas”, what the hell more do you want from the guy? “Because I’ve learned that if I say, “I would call Egypt first” or “I would call Israel first” or “I would call Jordan first” or whoever I said I would call first then the next thing would be, ‘Well, why would you not call this one first?’ I know how that works, and that’s just silly”, the politician told “PBS NewsHour”.
Williams similarly downplayed the role that Clarridge, who is allegedly unpaid, has in Carson’s campaign, saying they’ve met in person a couple of times and that Carson speaks to another 13-14 advisers.
During the last Republican debate in Wisconsin on 10 November, Mr Carson offered a convoluted response to whether he approved of Barack Obama’s decision to send United States special forces into Syria.
“I’ve been to 57 different countries, I’ve lived overseas, and I have common sense and a brain”, the retired neurosurgeon told reporters Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
“For the NY Times to take advantage of an elderly gentleman and use him as their foil in this story is an affront to good journalistic practices”, he added. Williams had referred The Times to Clarridge, describing him as one of Carson’s top advisers on foreign policy and providing his phone number. In neither scenario do Carson and his team come out looking ready for prime time.
“At this rate, I wouldn’t be shocked to find out Carson thought the Gaza Strip was a titty bar in Vegas”, Noah said.
Carson was responding to a question about his business manager Armstrong Williams, who stated in an earlier interview that Carson was “still on a learning curve” when it comes to foreign policy.
But the repeated rocky interviews on foreign policy have brought to focus a main challenge for the GOP front-runner as he works to solidify his lead in national polls of the race: A perception that he may be too kindly and soft-spoken to be an effective commander-in-chief.
Mr Carson and his campaign have since vehemently denied the allegations in the report.
Seriously? Is that supposed to make voters feel more comfortable with Carson or his operation?
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“If they violate it, we will, in fact, enforce it”, he said.
