Extremist Presidential Candidate Ben Carson Throws Support Behind Portman
Over the weekend, extremist Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson who has come under fire for his numerous controversial statements threw his full support behind Rob Portman. Portman warmly received the endorsement from Carson who said that prison turns people gay, called the VA health system problems a “gift from god,” and disagreed with the notion that domestic violence is a “terrible plague” affecting many millions of women and families.
Portman, whose Super PAC chief is helping Carson’s presidential bid, even tweeted out his appreciation for the controversial figure’s endorsement:
“If there was any doubt over just how right-wing and out-of-touch Rob Portman is, his excitement over Ben Carson’s endorsement should erase it,” said Sadie Weiner, DSCC National Press Secretary. “Ben Carson has lobbed offensive comments about women, slavery and the LGBT community on a regular basis, and it’s telling that Rob Portman has embraced him and his endorsement so wholeheartedly.”
BACKGROUND
BEN CARSON HAS A HISTORY OF OFFENSIVE COMMENTS
AFTER IT WAS REVEALED RAY RICE PHYSICALLY ABUSED HIS WIFE, BEN CARSON SAID WE SHOULDN’T DEMONIZE HIM…
September 2014: Baltimore Ravens Player Ray Rice Was Terminated After A Video Was Released Showing Him Punching His Then-Fiancée. “Ray Rice won’t get another chance with the Baltimore Ravens after all. There’s no guarantee he gets another chance from the NFL either. The Ravens announced they’ve terminated Rice’s contract Monday afternoon, hours after TMZ.com posted video of the embattled running back punching his then-fiancée during an altercation at an Atlantic City hotel in February. A short time later, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced he has indefinitely suspended Rice based on the new video evidence, which figured to scare off any team that might have contemplated signing him anyway.” [USA Today, 9/8/14]
Carson: “Let’s Not All Jump On The Bandwagon Of Demonizing” Ray Rice. During an interview on NewsMax TV with Steve Malzberg, Carson was asked about the Baltimore Ravens’ decision to terminate Ray Rice’s contract after the release of a video showing him punching his then-fiancée Janay Palmer. Carson responded, I’m hopeful they will get some help for him. I mean, obviously anyone who would do something like that needs some help. And let’s not all jump on the bandwagon of demonizing this guy. He obviously has some real problems, and his wife obviously knows that, because she subsequently married him. So they both need some help. So rather than just jumping on a punitive bandwagon, let’s just see if we can get some help for these people.” [NewsMax TV, via Mediaite, 9/8/14]
…AND THEN ENCOURAGED SOME WOMEN TO STAY IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Carson Op-Ed Headline: “Sometimes It’s OK To Stay After Domestic Violence.” [Ben Carson Op-Ed, TIME, 9/10/14]
Carson: “There Are Situations […] In Which The Best Option May Be Counseling Or Mediation Or Other Less Drastic Measures” Than Leaving The Relationship. “There are situations in which domestic abuse is so violent and dangerous that nothing short of a total separation from the abuser is the only way of assuring the physical and emotional safety of the victim(s). But there are situations, especially where there is strong spiritual and community support, in which the best option may be counseling or mediation or other less drastic measures. […] But to imply that a woman or man is displaying weakness by staying in a relationship, or conversely, showing strength by leaving, is far too simplistic. Often it takes great strength to overcome difficult issues in a relationship. There should be a determination on the part of both parties– as well as sometimes courts, counselors, pastors and other community resources – as to whether the relationship is worth saving, and if so, what steps should be taken to try and heal the wounds and rebuild strong bonds of trust.” [Ben Carson Op-Ed, TIME, 9/10/14]
…AND EVEN CLAIMED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WAS NOT WIDESPREAD
In Response To The Statement That Domestic Violence Is Not “Isolated” Incidents But “A Terrible Plague,” Carson Said “I’m Not Sure That’s True.” BILL O’REILLY: “So Doctor, you almost sound a little sympathetic to Ray Rice, although I understand you want to cure whatever disease Mr. Rice has. You’re a physician, that’s your job. But shouldn’t we demonize him and others like him to send a message that this can’t happen in America, this kind of violence?” BEN CARSON: “Well, I’m not sure that demonizing people is ever the right thing to do. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think that, you know, appropriate punishment should be given. We’re all punished for what we do. There are consequences for bad behavior. But you also need to recognize that these are human beings. We’re all human beings. You know, I remember as a teenager trying to stab someone, had it not been for that belt buckle, I would probably would have been in jail or reform school.” O’REILLY: “Very interesting. So you did a violent act when you were younger and so you can sympathize perhaps with people who commit violent acts now. You know, I have trouble with that and here is why. I demonized Osama bin Laden, the ISIS crew. I don’t have any sympathy for them. If I were the commander in chief, I would kill as many of them as fast as I could. I don’t believe in redemption for those kinds of people at all. Ray Rice not in that category but certainly a man who inflicted — did a terrible, terrible thing. And I do want the message to be sent, you know, you’re right, he’s punished. He lost his job and probably will not play in American football again, you might see him in Canada. But is that enough, you know? Is that enough?” CARSON: “But recognize the reason that we all feel that way is because it was such a despicable thing. This is somebody who he loves and he pummeled her with enough force it could have killed her. Why would you — you won’t do that.” (CROSSTALK) O’REILLY: “But Doctor, you know how many millions of men do that? It’s not an isolated deal. It’s a terrible plague.” CARSON: “I’m not sure that’s true. To have a man who is an NFL star who is very, very bulked up against –” O’REILLY: “I’m telling you. Battery against women in this country and around the world is just out of control, Doc, it really is.” [Fox News, The O’Reilly Factor, 9/11/14] (VIDEO)
CARSON SAID WOMEN GET “RILED UP” ABOUT THE ISSUE OF CHOICE, ADDING WOMEN NEEDED TO BE RE-EDUCATED ABOUT IT
Carson: Women “Get All Riled Up” Over Abortion Debate; “What We Need To Do Is Re-Educate The Women.” According to Raw Story, “Newly hired Fox News contributor Dr. Ben Carson proposed on Friday to “re-educate the women” so that they would stop having abortions. […] ‘You know, there are those of us in this society who have told women that there’s a war on them because that cute little baby inside of them, they may want to get rid of it and there are people that are keeping you from doing that,’ Carson continued. ‘And women say, ‘No, no, they’re not doing that to me! No!’ And they get all riled up.’ He added there was obviously not a ‘war on women’ because men give up their seats to pregnant women. ‘There is no war on them, the war is on their babies,’ Carson insisted. ‘Babies that cannot defend themselves. Over the past few decades, we have destroyed 55 million of them. And we have the nerve to call other societies of the past heathen.’ ‘What we need to do is re-educate the women to understand that they are the defenders of these babies.’” [Raw Story, 10/11/13]
CARSON WENT SO FAR AS TO COMPARE THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT TO SLAVERY…
Carson: “Obamacare Is Really I Think The Worst Thing That Has Happened In This Nation Since Slavery” And “It Is Slavery In A Way.” According to the Washington Post, “Dr. Ben Carson, a rising star in conservative circles, on Friday compared President Obama’s health-care law to slavery. ‘You know Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery,’ Carson, who is African American, said Friday in remarks at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. ‘And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care. It was about control.’” [Washington Post, 10/11/13; Values Voters Summit, 10/11/13]
- Daily Beast Headline: “Really, Dr. Carson? Obamacare Is Worse Than 9/11?” [Daily Beast, 6/5/14]
…AND COMPARE THE UNITED STATES TO NAZI GERMANY
Carson Said The United States Is Like Nazi Germany Because Of The “PC Police.” “Fox News contributor and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson on Monday compared American society to Nazi Germany. ‘I mean, [our society is] very much like Nazi Germany,’ Carson told Breitbart News, after declaring that we were living in a ‘Gestapo age.’ ‘And I know you’re not supposed to say ‘Nazi Germany,’ but I don’t care about political correctness. You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population. We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe.’ Carson listed multiple aspects of America that he believes intimidates people into silence. ‘And it’s because of the PC police, it’s because of politicians, it’s because of news. It’s all of these things are combining to stifle people’s conversation,’ he said.” [Talking Points Memo, 3/12/14]
Huffington Post: Carson “Warned […] That Progressives Are Turning The Country Into The Next Nazi Germany.”According to the Huffington Post, “Ben Carson, the retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon and Fox News commentator, recently warned supporters of Oregon GOP Senate candidate Monica Wehby that progressives are turning the country into the next Nazi Germany. Carson made the comparison during a Jan. 31 fundraiser he headlined for Wehby in Wilsonville, Ore.” [Huffington Post, 2/10/14]
CARSON SAID BEING GAY WAS “ABSOLUTELY” A CHOICE AND THAT “A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO GO INTO PRISON GO INTO PRISON STRAIGHT — AND WHEN THEY COME OUT, THEY’RE GAY”
Carson Said “There Have Been No Definitive Studies That People Are Born Into A Specific Sexuality” And That Being Gay Was “Absolutely” A Choice. “Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson apologized for commenting Wednesday that prisoners’ changes after they leave jail proves being gay is a choice, but said that the science is still murky on the issue. […] Carson referenced his medical education and his work at Johns Hopkins Hospital and asserted that the verdict is still out on whether people are born either gay or straight. ‘Some of our brightest minds have looked at this debate, and up until this point there have been no definitive studies that people are born into a specific sexuality,’ he said. The statement was an attempt to walk back comments Carson made earlier Wednesday morning on CNN’s ‘New Day.’ Asked by Chris Cuomo whether being gay was a choice, Carson replied: ‘Absolutely.’ ‘Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question,’ Carson said. That argument, Carson said, ‘thwarts’ the notion that homosexuality isn’t a choice, which is at odds with the majority of the medical community, including the American Psychological Association, who says ‘most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.’” [CNN, 3/5/15] (VIDEO)
- Carson: “A Lot Of People Who Go Into Prison Go Into Prison Straight — And When They Come Out, They’re Gay.” “Asked by Chris Cuomo whether being gay was a choice, Carson replied: ‘Absolutely.’ ‘Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question,’ Carson said.” [CNN, 3/5/15] (VIDEO)
CARSON COMPARED HOMOSEXUALITY TO BESTIALITY AND PEDOPHILIA
Carson: “Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman […] No Group, Be They Gays, Be They NAMBLA, Be They People Who Believe In Bestiality. It Doesn’t Matter Who They Are. They Don’t Get To Change The Definition.” According to Slate, Carson participated in an interview with Sean Hannity on March 26th, 2013, where he said, “Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition. So he, it’s not something that is against gays, it’s against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications.” [Slate, 3/28/13; Hannity,3/26/13]
- Carson “Appeared To Liken Homosexuality To Pedophilia And Bestiality.” In March 2013, Politico reported that Carson “came under scrutiny when he appeared to liken homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality, sparking the outrage of the LGBT community.” Carson had said: ““My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition.” [Politico, 3/29/13]
- Carson Lumped Homosexuality In With Murder, Lying, And Cheating As Things God Doesn’t Approve Of. In April 2013, Salon quoted a passage from Carson’s book, “The Big Picture,” in which he wrote: “Whenever I point out that God calls homosexual behavior a sin, I am usually quick to add that the Bible just as clearly calls a lot of other things wrong — lying, cheating, adultery, murder, gluttony — and I am not going to try to justify any those things in order to be politically correct either.” [Salon, 4/1/13]
Carson: Supporters Of Equal Marriage Rights For LGBT Are “Directly Attacking The Relationship Between God And His People.” According to Raw Story, “Conservative neurosurgeon Ben Carson said last week that supporters of equal marriage rights for LGBT people were ‘directly attacking the relationship between God and his people’ and could endanger ‘everything else in the Bible.’ Speaking to the anti-LGBT group Illinois Family Institute (IFI) on Friday, Carson explained that the Bible compares the relationship between Jesus Christ and his followers to a marriage. ‘Think about the implications of that,’ he said. ‘When people come along and try to change the definition of marriage, they are directly attacking the relationship between God and his people.’” [Raw Story, 10/7/13]
CARSON SAID THE VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH CARE PROBLEMS WAS A “GIFT FROM GOD”
Carson Said The VA Problems Were A “Gift From God.” “The ongoing scandal surrounding the Veterans Affairs health care system has empowered conservatives who oppose Obamacare, with a growing number saying the woes plaguing the VA are a glimpse of bigger problems to come if President Obama’s health care law continues to be implemented. […] ‘I think what’s happening with the veterans is a gift from God to show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patients and the health care provider,’ said conservative pundit and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson Saturday on Fox News. ‘And if we can’t get it right, with the relatively small number of veterans, how in the world with are you going to do it with the entire population?’” [CBS News, 5/25/14]
