Posted on 11/06/2015 10:51:55 AM PST by xzins
“The campaign never ‘admitted to anything,'†a spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told The Daily Caller News Foundation in response to a hit by Politico claiming his campaign admitted to “fabricating†a key point about his West Point story.
“The Politico story is an outright Lie,†Doug Watts told TheDCNF.
Politico published a piece Friday claiming Carson’s campaign “admits fabricating†the fact that he applied and was admitted to West Point.
“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,†Kyle Cheney writes in the lede.
The Carson campaign disputes Politico’s unsubstantiated claim he ever claimed to have applied to West Point or been admitted: “He never said he was admitted or even applied.â€
“This is what we have come to expect from Politico.â€
Here is the full statement Watts provided to TheDCNF:
“Dr Carson was the top ROTC student in the City of Detroit. 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.
He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors. 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. There are “Service Connected†nominations for stellar High School ROTC appointments. Again he was the top ROTC student in Detroit. I would argue strongly that an Appointment is indeed an amazing full scholarship. Having ran several Congressional Offices I am very familiar with the Nomination process.
Again though his Senior Commander was in touch with West Point and told Dr. Carson he could get in, Dr Carson did not seek admission.
The Politico story is an outright Lie. Dr. Carson as the leading ROTC student in Detroit was told by his Commanders that he could get an Appointment to the Academy. He never said he was admitted or even applied.
The campaign never “admitted to anythingâ€
This is what we have come to expect from Politico.â€
Politico reporter Kyle Cheney, who has the byline on the Carson story, did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
Kyle Cheney of Politico is clearly a graduate cum laude of the Dan Rather school of journalism.
I’ve heard him say that “some people” said he could get in West Point “real easy”, to him saying “representatives” told him, to him claiming Westmoreland personally told him. Who will it be today? O’Reilly got him to admit last night that he was never offered anything. O’Reilly pushed him on it and told him maybe his wording could have been a little different in the book and Carson agreed with him. But of course not before saying “well that’s how I took it”. In other words he lied in his books. If Carson is such a smart man, why did he personally mislead people for years into thinking he was offered a full “scholarship” to West Point. I’ve also noticed he never misses a beat to tell someone how smart he was as a kid and how he did things faster than anyone else so of course the world was impressed with his genius. He reminds of Steve Urkel, the nerdy black kid who couldn’t find a girl friend but was always the teacher’s pet, and 50 years later he’s not changed.
It is pathetic, unjust and stomach-turning. NOT FR’s greatest moment by a long shot.
Spot on. He’s not telling the truth about a lot of his past, IMO.
He’s not humble either. He never misses a chance to reinforce how much smarter he was than everyone around him. That would include us, the little people.
This guy is a egomaniacal jerk.
CARSON: POLITICO STORY ‘TOTAL FABRICATION’; NEVER CLAIMED I APPLIED TO WEST POINT
You are a dupe, who fell for the Politico smear campaign hook, line, and sinker.
http://news.yahoo.com/gop-candidate-carson-backs-off-west-point-scholarship-192236924—election.html#
Where in your link does it state that Carson claimed to have been accepted to West Point?
What it says is that Carson was told by unnamed Army officers that they could get him into West Point, but he begged off, letting them know he wanted to become a doctor instead. So, they never set about the process of getting him nominated and accepted.
Here a notion. Rather then waste our time with these emotion based flatulent personal attack posts every day, try making a case FOR your candidate once.
You shouldn’t be so tough on The Donald.
“You were never formally offered any kind of accommodation to West Point, is that correct?”
“Right I was just told that would be very easy for me.”
“So that should have been a little clearer on page 57 of your book, is that correct?”
“I guess it could have been more clarify....I told it as I understood it.”
Operative word — “Formally”. Used more than once by BOR.
If I were a military leader during Vietnam and met a kid as sharp as Ben, who had clearly excelled far beyond his peers in ROTC, I too would have told him that he’s just the kind of kid the service academies are looking for. And if the kid went home and told his parents that he was offered a “scholarship” to a service academy based on our conversation, I would tell the parents that’s not exactly true, there is a formal process involved — but I would reiterate that their son is just the kind of candidate the service academies look for.
And it’s totally believable that any of a number of military leaders, from his ROTC commander, to Medal of Honor heroes, to General Westmoreland would have also told him so.
By the way BOR was wrong in his interview of Dr. Carson — congressmen do not “appoint” cadets to West Point. They nominate them, as part of the appointment process. He was quick to lecture Dr. Carson on the process, but got it wrong himself. BOR never called Dr. Carson a liar (like he did to George Will) and never established the claims made by Politico, or taken up by the MSM.
But you prefer to be an active participant in the smear campaign, for reasons unknown (and I’m being charitable).
He obviously didn’t intend to imply being formally accepted to West Point and promised a scholarship on the basis of a single conversation without having ever applied. The NYT interview made it clear for anyone that didn’t get the process that it was an informal offer.
Bill, that is true. I was the highest student ROTC member in Detroit and was thrilled to get an offer from West Point. But I knew medicine is what I wanted to do. So I applied to only one school. (it was all the money I had). I applied to Yale and thank God they accepted me. I often wonder what might have happened had they said no.
West point has NO record of offering Carson anything.
Here are Carson’s words.
Bill, that is true. I was the highest student ROTC member in Detroit and was thrilled to get an offer from West Point. But I knew medicine is what I wanted to do. So I applied to only one school. (it was all the money I had). I applied to Yale and thank God they accepted me. I often wonder what might have happened had they said no.
West Point has no record of course. Carson is full of it.
That's irrelevant and immaterial.
West Point discards admissions records after three years unless the candidate is accepted and attends the Academy. So, even if they had offered him a slot, the record of it would be gone, since he went to Yale instead.
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