Dr. Ben Carson lambasted the media during an impromptu, heated press conference Friday evening, fervently denying Friday’s Politico characterization of Carson’s West Point scholarship story, and going on a tirade about how he believes he is being covered unfairly compared to how President Obama was covered in the 2008 election.
“Politico, as you know, told a bald-faced lie,” Carson said. “I never said I received a full scholarship. Nowhere did I say that.”
A member of the media interjected: “You just told me you got a scholarship offer.”
“I never said I got a scholarship,” Carson replied, making a distinction between “scholarship” and “scholarship offer.”
Carson told Charlie Rose as recently as October: “I was offered a full scholarship to West Point, got to meet General Westmoreland, go to Congressional Medal dinners, but decided really my pathway would be medicine.”
The Politico story has come under fire in the media. Carson thanked the critics: “There are actually some people with integrity in your business,” he said.
Carson criticized Donald Trump for seizing on Carson’s crisis for political gain. Trump took to Twitter today to criticize Carson.
“What would you expect Donald Trump to say? It’s somebody who’s running neck-and-neck with me,” Carson said.
Carson also criticized the media generally for not being as vigorous in investigating then-Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 campaign.
“All the things that Jeremiah Wright was saying, eh, no problem,” Carson said, pillorying the media. “Goes to Occidental College, doesn’t do all that well, and somehow ends up at Columbia … His records are sealed,” Carson said. “Why are you guys not interested in why his records are sealed?”
