Getty Trump compares 'pathological' Carson to child molesters 
 
 Donald Trump lashed out at Ben Carson on Thursday, likening his "pathological" temperament to that of a child molester’s. 
 
 In an appearance on CNN’s "Erin Burnett OutFront," the billionaire businessman said that there is no cure for his 2016 presidential opponent’s condition, citing Carson's own memoir as his source. 
 
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 “It's in the book that he's got a pathological temper," he said. "That's a big problem because you don't cure that ... as an example: child molesting. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that." 
 
 Carson has been upfront about his volatile temper. In "Gifted Hands," his autobiography published in the early 1990s, he described several violent incidents, including wanting to hit his mother with a hammer and trying to stab a close friend, only to be stopped by a belt buckle. Carson's stories, a crucial component of his redemption narrative, have come into a question after a CNN investigation failed to turn up any corroboration. 
 
 Trump has taken issue this week with one specific passage in which Carson wrote, "I had what I only can label a pathological temper — a disease — and this sickness controlled me, making me totally irrational." 
 
 "I'm not bringing up anything that's not in his book," Trump said Thursday, adding, “I'm not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he's pathological.” 
 
 A top Carson aide, Armstrong Williams, responded late Thursday. "Mr. Trump likes Dr. Carson, but Mr. Trump has resentment when he sees Dr. Carson rise,” he told CNN. "He lashes out like he did tonight and resents Dr. Carson's continued rise and Dr. Carson (getting) the attention of the press and American people." 
 
 Trump and Carson are vying for supremacy in the GOP nomination race, with the real estate mogul edging the retired surgeon by mere decimal places in the latest RealClearPolitics average of national polls. ||||| Story highlights Trump cites Carson's own autobiography 
 
 "You don't cure a child molester," the real estate mogul said 
 
 Carson campaign responds, says Trump "resents" Carson's rise 
 
 (CNN) Donald Trump said Thursday that Ben Carson's self-described "pathological temper" is incurable -- adding that it's like the sickness of a "child molester." 
 
 "It's in the book that he's got a pathological temper," Trump told "Erin Burnett OutFront," speaking about Carson's autobiography. "That's a big problem because you don't cure that ... as an example: child molesting. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that." 
 
 In his 1990 autobiography, "Gifted Hands," Carson attributes violent behavior in his youth to his "disease," a "pathological temper" that the Republican presidential hopeful said caused him to strike one friend with a rock and attempt to stab another. In subsequent accounts of his violent youth, Carson said he once attempted to attack his mother with a hammer. 
 
 "I'm not bringing up anything that's not in his book," Trump told Erin Burnett. "You know, when he says he went after his mother and wanted to hit her in the head with a hammer, that bothers me. I mean, that's pretty bad. When he says he's pathological -- and he says that in the book, I don't say that -- and again, I'm not saying anything, I'm not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he's pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease." 
 
 Read More ||||| WASHINGTON U.S. presidential candidate Ben Carson recommended praying for rival Donald Trump after the real-estate mogul and television personality, in a 95-minute rant in Iowa, likened him to a child molester, Carson's business manager said on Friday. 
 
 "When I spoke with Dr. Carson about this yesterday how we should respond, you know he was so sad about it. He said: "Pray for him." He feels sorry for him because he really likes Mr. Trump," Armstrong Williams, who often acts as Carson's surrogate in the media, told CNN. 
 
 "To see him just imploding before our very eyes - it's just sad to watch," Williams said. 
 
 Speaking in Iowa on Thursday evening, Trump, a leading contender for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, cast doubt on Carson's oft-reported story of lunging at someone with a hunting knife as a child, an episode Carson says led him to his Christian faith. 
 
 A retired neurosurgeon, Carson has emerged as the main challenger to Trump's top position in national polls and popularity in early deciding states. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month found 31 percent of Republicans favored Trump. Carson followed at 18 percent. 
 
 "Give me a break," Trump said in his Thursday speech, where he also lashed out at other Republican candidates and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. "How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe that crap?" 
 
 He said the incident showed Carson had a "pathological" temper. 
 
 "If you're pathological, there's no cure for that," Trump said. "If you're a child molester, there's no cure. They can't stop you." 
 
 Carson has said his intended stabbing victim's belt buckle blocked his knife, a detail Trump singled out in his rant. 
 
 "Lo and behold! It hit the belt. It hit the belt and the knife broke," Trump said mockingly. 
 
 Other Republican candidates came to Carson's defense early Friday and slammed Trump for his controversial plans on foreign policy and immigration. 
 
 "Anyone can turn a multi-million dollar inheritance into more money, but all the money in the world won't make you as smart as Ben Carson," candidate Carly Fiorina wrote on Facebook. 
 
 Republican candidate Lindsey Graham called Carson a "good, decent man," and said of Trump: "I think he melted down last night." 
 
 "He has no clue what he's talking about," Graham, a South Carolina senator, said on Fox News. "Over time, that will take a toll - I hope." 
 
 (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Additional reporting by Megan Cassella; Editing by Bernadette Baum) ||||| Story highlights Trump walked away from the podium and flipped his belt buckle up and down to ridicule a key event in Carson's life 
 
 Trump also told the crowd in Fort Dodge that he could not possibly understand why anyone supports Carson 
 
 Washington (CNN) Donald Trump on Thursday told Iowa's voters that those who support Ben Carson are "stupid" to believe the "crap" that is his life story, part of a stunning 95-minute tirade that included his most aggressive attack yet on his closest competitor. 
 
 The real estate mogul's pugnacious demeanor was a stark departure from the far more restrained Trump on display at Tuesday's debate, when he declined to attack Carson while standing right next to him. He criticized the retired neurosurgeon repeatedly, said Hillary Clinton is playing the "women's card big league," ridiculed Marco Rubio as "weak like a baby" and vowed to "bomb the s*** out of (ISIS)." 
 
 Toward the end of his wide-ranging complaints about the country and competition, Trump mocked Carson's narrative about his violent temper as a youth that was calmed only when he prayed to God and asked for deliverance, an event that Carson describes as a miracle. That story of redemption has underpinned much of Carson's support in the Hawkeye State. 
 
 At one point, Trump walked away from the podium and flipped his belt buckle up and down to ridicule what Carson has described as a key event in his life: that Carson, as a boy, once tried but failed to stab someone only to have the knife broken by a belt buckle. 
 
 "So I have a belt: Somebody hits me with a belt, it's going in because the belt moves this way. It moves this way, it moves that way," Trump told the crowd, which laughed in response. "He hit the belt buckle. Anybody have a knife? Want to try it on me? Believe me, it ain't gonna work. You're going to be successful, but he took the knife and went like this and he plunged it into the belt and, amazing, the belt stayed totally flat and the knife broke." 
 
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– Donald Trump laid into Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and, most of all, Ben Carson in a Thursday night speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa that the Washington Post describes as a "95-minute rant." He accused Clinton of playing the "woman's card" and said Rubio was "weak like a baby," per the Post, then took the insults to another level during the 10 minutes or so he spent on Carson. Trump called his rival "damaged" and, pointing to Carson's claim in his autobiography that he had a "pathological temper" as a young man, likened him to a child molester. "If you're a child molester, there's no cure. They can't stop you," he told a crowd estimated at around 1,500 people. "Pathological? There's no cure." Trump made the same argument about Carson being "incurable" in a Thursday CNN interview, reports Politico. "It's in the book that he's got a pathological temper," he told Erin Burnett. "That's a big problem because you don't cure that. As an example: child molesting. You don't cure these people." At the Iowa rally, Trump scoffed at Carson's account of trying to stab a friend as a teen and being blocked by his belt buckle. He opened his jacket, displayed his belt, and invited audience members to try the same move, the Des Moines Register reports. "How stupid are the people of Iowa?" Trump wondered. "How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?" (The last time Trump insulted Iowans, he blamed it on a "young intern.")