Where are the facts? Other than assertions, I don’t see any.
Carson said last night he was paid to speak by Mannatech (just as any other public figure is paid to speak by any number of organizations) and uses their products. Those two facts do not make a formal (or informal) business association. Unless you want to say someone who drives a Ford, and spoke a couple times to a Ford employees conference is “associated” with Ford, there is no case, there are no lies.
Agree, this is on the level of blowing up a molehill of nit pick into a mountain.
His association — if one HAD to call it that — was limited to being paid to give private motivational speeches at Mannatech. Being SDA and the health nuts they are (Kellogg of cereal fame is also from that line of faith, incidentally), that was up all their alleys. But from the fuss, one would be led to think that he was paid to be a spokesman or to give endorsements etc. No such thing. He gave them private motivational speeches, believing already in their mission. If they overpaid him that’s their problem.
Carson, as a medical doctor, lent his name, his face and made an infomercial for this company claiming in one clip that this supplement had curd his prostate cancer, leaving out that he had surgery. Those are the facts.
When a brain surgeon endorses a product, he cannot claim that he has no involvement with that product.