Right-wing neurosurgeon Ben Carson continues to move forward with his plans to seek the Republicans’ presidential nomination, despite his record of truly bizarre rhetoric, and yesterday delivered remarks at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting.
Where Kasie Hunt heard Carson deliver even more truly bizarre remarks.
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson on Thursday said Americans can learn from the Islamic State’s willingness to die for their cause, comparing ISIS to the Americans who waged the Revolutionary War against the British. […]“A bunch of rag-tag militiamen defeated the most powerful and professional military force on the planet. Why? Because they believed in what they were doing. They were willing to die for what they believed in,” Carson told a luncheon audience of national committee members. “Fast forward to today. What do we have? You’ve got ISIS. They’ve got the wrong philosophy, but they’re willing to die for it while we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness. We have to change that.”
National Journal‘s report added that Carson’s underlying message to Republican officials is that he’s “not ‘crazy.” In fact, the former Fox News personality added that he’s bothered by the “craziness narrative” that’s frequently tied to coverage of his remarks.
As a rule, when presidential candidates have to invest effort in convincing people they’re not “crazy,” those candidates have a serious problem.
For those who’ve forgotten Carson’s rise to Tea Party notoriety, let’s not forget that Carson last year equated homosexuality with pedophilia and bestiality. He soon after said health care reform is the worst thing to happen in the United States since slavery.
About a year ago, Carson made the case that liberals may turn the United States into Nazi Germany. A month later, he went a little further, insisting that Americans are living in a “gestapo age,” which is “very much like Nazi Germany.”
Carson characterized the debate over marijuana legalization as a distraction from Benghazi. On developments in Ferguson, Missouri, Carson has said political correctness contributed to Michael Brown’s death, blamed “the women’s lib movement” for violence in the streets, and said those who protested the Ferguson shooting reminded him of Hamas.
Reflecting on the controversies surrounding his over-the-top language, Carson told the Republican National Committee members yesterday, “I stand by those” remarks, adding. “I don’t think there’s anything crazy at all.”
No, of course not. Perish the thought.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."