Ben Carson is either a giant liar or uniquely persecuted. Guess which version Carson is pushing. As his stories about himself, told in his book Gifted Hands and many speeches over the years, have come under scrutiny in recent days and several have failed to hold up, Carson isn’t trying to produce evidence his stories were true. He’s just saying the media is being mean to him as they’ve been mean to no one else ever.
Yes, he has been asked if what he’s facing is worse than birtherism, and Carson’s answer was yes. Carson told Meet the Press’ Chris Jansing that:
I have always said that I expect to be vetted. But being vetted and what is going on with me, "You said this 30 years ago, you said this 20 years ago, this didn't exist, this didn't." You know, I just, I have not seen that with anyone else. Or if you can show me where that's happened with someone else, I will take that statement back.
Jansing, obviously, came back with “Bill Clinton or the president with his birth certificate.” Carson’s response: “No, not like this” and “Not even close.” (So much for “if you can show me where that’s happened with someone else, I will take that statement back.”)
But then, this is a guy whose house is a giant shrine to himself, complete with a painting of himself with Jesus. (So much for the Bible verse about humility inscribed on one of the walls of that house.) This is also a guy who’s now blaming his coauthor for the made-up stuff in his own biography.
Even Donald Trump seems a little unsure where to go with this whole bizarre story.
“It's a strange situation when you talk about hitting your mother on the head with the hammer," Trump said on ABC's "This Week." "It's a weird deal going on and I hope it all works out because I don’t want to see Ben have problems over this stuff.”
Even Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus acknowledged that some questions about Carson’s tales of his past are “appropriate,” though he ruined that moment of semi-honesty by going on to claim that Hillary Clinton hasn’t faced the level of scrutiny Carson has.
Too bad Ben seems to have created a lot of problems for himself through decades of fraudulent self-aggrandizement. Although so far at least his loyal supporters are rewarding him with piles of cash for being persecuted by people trying to find out the truth.