White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday rejected the idea that the press is looking into Ben Carson much more than it scrutinized the background of President Obama.
“I don’t agree with that statement,” Earnest said when asked by reporters. Carson and his supporters say they are being targeted by left-leaning reporters who are looking for flaws, but Earnest said that’s just a normal part of seeking the White House.
“It’s not easy to run for president; it shouldn’t be,” Earnest said. “And that people when they make public comments are going to have their claims scrutinized, even if they’re claims about their own biography … that’s part of the process.”
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Carson last week argued that a story in Politico incorrectly said he admitted to “fabricating” that he tried to enroll at West Point, and many other media critics agreed that the story itself was much more of a fabrication. Politico eventually edited the story.
Still, Earnest said the hardest part of working on Obama’s inaugural presidential run was combatting misinformation.
“[I]n 2008, I recall a situation in which it was less the claims of President Obama that were being questioned and more that the claims about him were difficult to disprove, at least to the satisfaction of our harshest critics,” Earnest said.
“But what’s true now is a situation where you have Dr. Carson’s own claims that he has long been making and written about that are being subjected to scrutiny, and that’s an important part of the process,” he continued. “It ensures that whoever emerges from this difficult process is somebody that’s capable of leading the country.”
