Ben Carson Defends Presidential Candidate Accused of Lewd Remarks on 2005 Tape

October 12, 2016:    Dr. Ben Carson, the Adventist doctor who ran for the Republican Party nomination for president of the United States earlier this year, shocked many in the last few days with his defense of a 2005 tape of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s lewd boasts of sexual conquest. The tape features Trump bragging to Hollywood personality Billy Bush about his attempt to aggressively seduce a married woman, as well as using his celebrity status to sexually assault women.

In an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar yesterday, Carson said Trump’s words were “abominable,” but then dismissed them as everyday “banter.” He later compared Trump’s comments to the kind of sexual bragging that he had frequently witnessed during his youth. “As I was growing up, people were always trying to talk about their sexual conquests, and trying to make themselves appear, you know, like the, Don–you know, Casanova,” said Carson. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard that. I really am.”

But Keilar said, “I haven’t heard it, and I know a lot of people who have not heard it.” Carson then implied that the real dilemma was not that Trump had said offensive things, but that people were no longer used to hearing such rhetoric.

“Well, maybe that’s the problem,” Carson said. “The problem is that people haven’t heard this.”

Carson became a Trump supporter after his campaign ended earlier this year because he received relatively few votes in most of the primary elections. The retired pediatric neurosurgeon and Johns Hopkins University medical school professor is known for his personal high moral standards and a personal friend told Adventist Today on condition of anonymity that Carson is greatly distressed by some of the things that Trump has said.

The featured photo is by Gage Skidmore from Wikipedia.