- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

2016 Republican Front-Runner Carson Gives Trump a Run for His Money

© AP Photo / Mark J. TerrillBen Carson watches as Donald Trump takes the stage during the CNBC Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado.
Ben Carson watches as Donald Trump takes the stage during the CNBC Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Dr. Ben Carson may be the current Republican frontrunner in the US presidential election, but some of his views may leave you asking: who gave this guy a doctorate?

When billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy, his controversial comments about Mexican immigrants immediately guaranteed an entertaining election season.

Ben Carson - Sputnik International
US Presidential Hopeful Ben Carson Was ‘Volatile’ Teen With Violent Past

But as of late, the Donald has become a little stale. Maybe it’s because he’s beginning to self-censor now that he has a serious chance of winning the Republican nomination. Maybe he’s tired after months on the campaign trail. Or maybe we’re all just immune by now. How many times can you make an impromptu jab at Rosie O’Donnell before it becomes a cliché?

Enter Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon with the relaxed temperament and sleepy disposition, who may indeed be not only Trump’s political rival, but his comedic one as well.

Most recently, Carson made headlines by saying he was against abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. While this, on its own, isn’t exactly a revelatory position among Republican candidates, his reasoning is pure Carson.

"Think about this," he said NBC’s Meet the Press, when asked about his views on abortion.

"During slavery – and I know that’s one of those words you’re not supposed to say but I’m saying it – during slavery, a lot of slave-owners thought they had the right to do whatever they wanted to that slave, anything that they chose.

"And what if the abolitionists had said, 'I don’t believe in slavery but you guys do whatever you want'? Where would we be?"

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at an event. - Sputnik International
Say What? Donald Trump Says He’ll Close US Mosques to Defeat ISIL

Yes. At a time when even Kurdish lawmakers are fighting for the rights of women who have been raped by Islamic State terrorists to get an abortion, America’s leading Republican is arguing the other way because…slavery happened?

But it’s not Carson’s only head scratcher. During that same interview, he defended allegations that he was "low-energy" by informing viewers that he once tried to stab someone.

His abortion reasoning isn’t even the first time he’s used a slavery analogy to argue against policies he disagrees with.

"Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery," he said during a 2013 speech. "And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government…"

To argue against gun control, he’s instead opted for comparisons to Nazi Germany.

"I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed," he told CNN earlier this month. "There’s a reason these dictatorial people take the guns first."

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the American Airlines Center in Dallas - Sputnik International
Their the Worst! Trump Supporters Make the Most Grammar Mistakes

Hyperbolic reasoning aside, Carson does share similarly xenophobic views as Trump. But while the real estate mogul is concerned with immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border, the neurosurgeon is more concerned about Muslims stepping onto the White House lawn.

"I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation," he told Meet the Press earlier this year. "I absolutely would not agree with that." He later clarified, saying that a Muslim could be president, but "you have to reject the tenets of Islam."

So for the record, who did give Carson a doctorate? That would be the University of Michigan. Way to go, Wolverines.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала