Ben Carson has had quite an interesting couple of months, hasn’t he? The Republican physician became a far-right cause celebre just last month after using his National Prayer Breakfast platform to condemn the Affordable Care Act, which inexplicably led conservative news outlets to tout him as a possible 2016 presidential candidate.
But the more he talks, the more trouble Carson finds himself in. This week, the doctor equated homosexuality with pedophilia and bestiality, which led to criticism from Carson’s own colleagues at Johns Hopkins. Soon after, a group of students from the graduating class at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine called for replacing Carson as their commencement speaker, citing his extremist rhetoric and criticism of evolutionary biology, of all things.
msnbc’s Andrea Mitchell asked Carson whether he’s prepared withdraw as the commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins in light of the controversy. “Absolutely,” he said. “I would say that this is their day. And the last thing I would want to do is rain on their parade.”
Asked if he’d communicated this to university officials, Carson added, “I am waiting for appropriate channels.”
Postscript: Incidentally, Carson also believes marriage equality could destroy America like the “fall of the Roman Empire.” I’m sure this guy is an accomplished medical professional, but a historian he isn’t it — unless Carson knows something scholars don’t about fifth-century German tribes, it wasn’t married gay people that caused the sack of Rome. Update: I should also mention that when Mitchell asked Carson about his anti-gay comments on Fox, he said he apologizes “if anybody was offended,” which is exactly what a non-apology apology looks like.
The place for in-depth analysis, commentary and informed perspectives. Recommended
