Posted on 11/06/2015 8:33:42 AM PST by GIdget2004
Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,†the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship†to the military academy.
West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission.
“In 1969, those who would have completed the entire process would have received their acceptance letters from the Army Adjutant General,†said Theresa Brinkerhoff, a spokeswoman for the academy. She said West Point has no records that indicate Carson even began the application process. “If he chose to pursue (the application process) then we would have records indicating such,†she said.
When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.
“Dr. Carson was the top ROTC student in the City of Detroit,†campaign manager Barry Bennett wrote in an email to POLITICO. “In that role he was invited to meet General Westmoreland. He believes it was at a banquet. He can’t remember with specificity their brief conversation but it centered around Dr. Carson’s performance as ROTC City Executive Officer.â€
“He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors,†Bennett went on. “They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission.â€
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
We have to make a big deal about lying. That is the thing we will hit Hillary on in the general no matter who our nominee is.
LOL.
“So now politico is being taken as the gospel truth??’
When the candidate admits it, it’s time
to let go of the rope, Steve.
Yes, he did use the word scholarship. I still don’t see it as lying. A full ride is a scholarship. Look at the number of posts on this thread explaining that West Point comes with a full ride.
When writing a book for the masses, one would not be lying to use the term “full scholarship” instead of “offered an appointment that comes with a full ride.” The masses don’t care about the difference. This Politico story is horsesh*t.
Agreed. I’m sure it is an insult to you, and since I know several young men who are now at Westpoint, I am sure it is disrespectful to them, when the truth was plenty praise enough: that generals et al wanted him to apply!! Why not just say that?
Someone up thread said this was his Herman Cain moment, but Herman Cain didn’t lie about his military past! It is worse to lie about that, than to lie about cheating (though with Cain I think there were multiple women too, not great either).
Sadly, Hillary has lied about worse. And still gets no bad press. People DIED in Hillary’s lies.
The worst part of this is we can’t talk about the pyramids anymore.
Heard Herman Cain say in an interview the other day that anyone running for the presidency ought to have a "Crisis Management" Team, totally separate from their campaign team, to deal with vetting issues, and then to be proactive in dealing with these types of issues as they arise. Agree totally.
We should kick Iowa out of the Union. They always seem to pick the worst candidates. Buncha corn-fed idiots.
Yeah, he’s finished and he should be.
Looks like a Trump/Rubio ticket is coming into view.
And now you tell me you don't lie or bull sh*t?
LOL! You're FOS FreeReign.
Isn’t it great that Dr. Carson gets a real anal in the media vetting process, yet the messiah got a free ride from the lame stream media.
I hope this brings to a close the whole Carson chapter. I know the gop white guilters will cry, curl themselves into a fetal position, and suck their thumbs. Hopefully, they don’t go out and drag Herman Cain into the race, or any other unqualified black.
‘I know what I am but so are you’ doesn’t help.
We aren’t looking for a Pee Wee Herman presidency.
I KNEW they had something on Carson and were just waiting for the right moment to spring it on him.
The “concede the story was false” is not a quote from the campaign but editorializing by Politico. Let’s stick with the facts and not get sucked in to accepting editorialization as fact.
We have to ask:
1. Is it true Carson said in his book that he was offered a “scholarship” to West Point? That is, did he use the word “scholarship”’there? I don’t know I don’t have his book and I’m not taking Politico’s word for anything.
2. Is it true that West Point doesn’t offer “scholarships” but rather “appointments”? (This much seems true, which makes answering #1 all the more important)
3. Are appointments to WP only offered to those who start the application process first?
4. Is it true that Carson did NOT start the application process to West Point?
If the answer to all these questions are “yes” then he is lying and his campaign is over (or it should be. We aren’t Democrats). We need to get more independent verification than Politico though. That’s all I’m saying. It seems a distressing number of FReepers are willing to take Politico’s word for this. We can’t let them get away with another Herman Cain moment despite how we may feel about Carson. (I’m not a Carson supporter)
“This is POLITICO working hard to bury Carson.”
POLITICO is equal opportunity in slandering conservatives.
Carson has to learn how to, “cackle like Hillary.”
Somehow that cackling makes all of Hillary’s endless list of lies just disappear.
“Wow, what a hit piece. After reading the article, Carson never claimed to have applied to West Point, and his story in both books is consistent with a casual conversation with Westmoreland where the General might have encouraged him to apply and with his grades and success in ROTC he probably would have earned an appointment, which is a full-ride but not technically a scholarship, I suppose.”
I agree, but his campaign failed him again by putting out that statement. Just like the pyramid grainary story, it would have been easy to overcome it but they doubled down on it. I mean he could have swatted both of those away easily but the campaign did not.
His life story was already inspirational, why embellish it?
I don’t understand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.