Did Ben Carson lie about being accepted to West Point?
If true, this could be the beginning of the end for Dr. Ben Carson's presidential campaign.
On Friday, Politico broke a story that Carson lied about being accepted to West Point.
"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," Carson's campaign manager Barry Bennett said.
When contacted for a response, officials at West Point confirmed this is no official record of Carson ever applying or being offered admission into the elite military academy.
"In 1969, those who would have completed the entire process would have received their acceptance letters from the Army Adjutant General.
"If he chose to pursue (the application process) then we would have records indicating such," West Point spokeswoman Theresa Brinkerhoff said.
In his book "Gifted Hands", Carson claimed that he was offered a full scholarship to West Point.
"I felt so proud, my chest bursting with ribbons and braids of every kind. To make it more wonderful, we had important visitors that day. Two soldiers who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in Viet Nam were present.
"More exciting to me, General William Westmoreland (very prominent in the Viet Nam war) attended with an impressive entourage. Afterward, Sgt. Hunt introduced me to General Westmoreland, and I had dinner with him and the Congressional Medal winners. Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point."
Carson also made the same claim in his 2015 book "You Have a Brain."
"That position allowed me the chance to meet four-star general William Westmoreland, who had commanded all American forces in Vietnam before being promoted to Army Chief of Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
"I also represented the Junior ROTC at a dinner for Congressional Medal of Honor winners, marched at the front of Detroit's Memorial Day parade as head of an ROTC contingent, and was offered a full scholarship to West Point," Carson wrote.
UPDATE: The Carson campaign has responded further to this story.
"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," Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett said.
The narrative of Ben Carson's life reads: raised by a single mother who wanted her children to succeed, had a troubled youth, embraced religion, became studious, graduated from one of the nation's top universities, became an acclaimed neurosurgeon, built a top pediatric medical team at one of our major hospitals.
Is it insecurity about their own position in society, and perhaps their advantage of birth, that drives many to attack Carson? He did it the hard way, which sends the powerful message: "If I can do it, why can't you?" Is the desire to bring him down fueled by inadequacy?
Demands for proof that memories from 40 or 50 years ago are accurate are pathetic. "Gotcha" questions about the inerrancy of some aspect of Christian faith are pointless. None of these attacks have anything to do with the essential narrative.
The increasing fury of the attempts to divert attention from the essence of Carson simply reveals why opponents fear him.
The liberal media is showing their hypocritical bias. They are doing everything possible to find dirt on Dr Carson. Since he is a conservative black man who came from very humble beginnings, they can't stand to let him do well.
Conversely, President Obama was given a free pass on his background. While Obama had many, many examples of dubious behavior, the liberal media did everything possible to give him a pass.
People better make sure to check their facts when reading anything coming from liberal media sources; they have proven that they are quite willing to use half-truth and folklore to denigrate conservatives.
Carson is the leftist liberals worst nightmare: a conservative black man, who is honest and has a background such that his presence only would ridicule Hillary Clinton. Just imagine: "My name is Ben Carson, I saved the life of thousands of children, not just extending their lives, I made them great and worth living again". "Hello my name is Hillary Clinton, I have never done anything but cover up for a pervert husband, steal money through illegal schemes leveraging my role of first lady in AK and while secretary of state, I sold the country's best interests to foreign countries and companies for a few bucks to my so-called foundation."
End of story right there!
The left is going all out to find some dirt on Dr. Carson, whether it's true or not. The reason is simply because he is their worst nightmare. He is a black, Republican conservative who came from a poor, single parent, inner city household and a serious presidential candidate. In the eyes of the left, that just isn't supposed to happen.
Despite all obstacles, he made the most of the opportunities America offers and achieved a level of success that most of us can only dream about. While big government liberals like to preach about helping the sick, Dr. Carson spent most of his life in the most noble professions of teaching medical students and saving lives.
Carson knows that America's best hope lies in shrinking government, while expanding freedom and opportunity. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand that.
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