CNN anchors really, really want to know what retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson thinks about gay people.
Chris Cuomo tried yet again Wednesday morning to pin down the 2016 Republican presidential candidate on the issue of gay rights, asking him unsuccessfully to comment on some conservatives who have tried to compare the Confederate battle flag to the pro-LGBT rainbow flag.
Carson avoided answering Cuomo’s questioning, though, and said that he was more interested in speaking specifically on the Confederate flag itself, and not other issues.
“I decided that I really wanted to talk about the Confederate flag during this time,” he said.
Cuomo kept at it, suggesting that as a presidential candidate, it’s on Carson to tackle the really tough questions, which includes responding to what bloggers have to say about the gay pride flag.
The Confederate flag has become a hot issue following last week’s racially motivated terrorist attack in Charleston, S.C. Immediately following the mass slaughter, media and the people of South Carolina turned their attention to the Confederate battle flag flying on the capitol grounds.
Carson reiterated that he intended to speak about the Confederate symbol, and not issues brought up by people employed by conservative news sites.
“Like I said: If you want to talk about that, let’s do that on a different segment,” he said.
Cuomo actually tried for a third time to get the Republican presidential candidate to comment on the Confederate comparison to the gay pride flag, and Carson for a third time declined to engage.
Social media was deeply unimpressed with the CNN anchor’s dogged attempt to get Carson to weigh in on the flag comparison, prompting Cuomo to tweet several defenses.
“[N]ot sure why the doctor wasn’t prepared to do exactly what he suggested: face an uncomfortable issue,” he said on Twitter, “To be honest, I let it go. The point was made and his response was clear for you to judge.”
“I ask straight questions and I let Carson go when it was clear he wouldn’t answer. Don’t put this on me,” he added. “He just said we must face what is uncomfortable so we can come together and then ducked gay rights.”
“[F]lag comparisons out there among his base, and gays 2nd most likely target for hate crime,” he said. “Ducking major issues is a great way to rise to the top.”
Carson is currently polling ahead of several notable Republican contenders, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, according to Real Clear Politics. In the past, Carson has had to deal with negative press for his handling of gay rights questions from CNN anchors.
In March, Carson eclipsed the news that he had filed paperwork to run for the president of the United States by claiming in an interview that being gay is a choice and that many people who go into prison as heterosexuals come out as homosexuals.
“Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay,” the former head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital said in an interview with Cuomo. “So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.”
Later, in June, he was careful to avoid being pinned down by CNN’s Brianna Keilar over whether he thinks gay people in the United States are discriminated against.
