Ben Carson – a Washington outsider, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, a favorite among tea party insurgents – had a message Thursday for the Republican Party’s most influential establishment figures: I’m not “crazy.”
Speaking to the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting, Carson tried to challenge the caricature of him as a right-wing zealot by addressing – one by one – many of the individual controversies that have surrounded him, and dismissing them as lies from “the liberal media.”
Carson defended, among other things, his statements about Obamacare being the worst thing since slavery; comparing present-day America to Nazi Germany; and calling last year’s Veterans Affairs scandal “a gift from God” because it revealed holes in the system.
“I stand by those” remarks, Carson told the crowd. “I don’t think there’s anything crazy at all.”
Still, the significant time devoted to explaining and debunking these incidents suggests Carson is keenly aware of the damage they could do to his White House run.
Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of the good doctor, just not for a presidential run.
He may be a little crazy for thinking the RNC establishment types will give a newcomer a real look. Then again, the mere fact that he was speaking to them shows that he really isn’t that far outside the cherished inner circle.
It should be noted that during this same speech he said what could be interpreted has his craziest thing yet.
Good luck explaining that one away.
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