Ben Carson announces retirement, stokes 2016 buzz

Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins whose speech at the National Prayer Breakfast last month made him a conservative celebrity, announced on Saturday that he was retiring from his medical practice to consider other "things that could be done," teasing the crowd about the prospect of a 2016 presidential bid.

"I want to quit while I'm at the top of my game," the 61 year-old Carson said, "and there are so many more things that could be done." The crowd greeted the announcement with thunderous applause.

Earlier in his speech, Carson asked the audience to imagine a president who wants to destroy the country, elevating himself as the hypothetical executive.

"Let's say somebody were there, and they wanted to destroy this nation," Carson said. "Let's say you magically put me, you know, into the White House."

"First of all, I would create division among the people," he said. "And then, I would encourage a culture of ridicule for basic morality ... and then I would undermine the financial stability of the country and drive it so far into debt that there was absolutely no chance that it could recover. And I would weaken the military and destroy the morale of the military."

He then suggested that the hypothetical president destroying the country was, in fact, President Obama: "It appears coincidentally that those are the very things that are happening right now."

During his speech at the Prayer Breakfast last month, Carson delivered what many people saw as a criticism of the president while Mr. Obama sat right next to him, calling for a flat tax and criticizing the government for "trying to interfere with everyone's life."

After that speech, Carson said, "I got so much mail," and not all of it was pretty. Some respondents, he said, asked, "How dare you insult my president? You are an n-word."

He asked, "When did we reach the point that you had to have a certain philosophy because of the color of your skin?"

Popular in Politics

15 Comments Add a Comment

: linkicon reporticon emailicon
aliciaAZ111 says:: I'm thrilled about the buzz. I read Dr. Carson's book Take the Chance several years ago and thought what a remarkable man. I hope he does make a run in 2016.; reply

linkicon reporticon emailicon

alimech42 says:

Was his speech irony or satire? In meticulously describing the Shrub's 8 years of foolery and attributing it to President Obama, he crosses the line of common sense to outright stupidity. Did he not KNOW? Or are all Rethuglicans living in such a fantasy world? Glad he retired from his practice, now he can go back to the same rock under which he was found!


AOCGUY replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; You know I was thinking exactly the same thing.

linkicon reporticon emailicon

omnibus66 says:


andthetruthis replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Absolutely.

His announcement that he was quitting was met with "thunderous applause".

linkicon reporticon emailicon

cattiej says:

This guy is an idiot, how dare he talk about our country and our President...if he doesn't like the United States, then get the he** out of America....This guy is a Doctor??? I sure wouldn't want to be his patient and I sure wouldn't want him to be President...go away, go far far away...you are a poor excuse of a man....you ain't a Doc, your a DUD!


luadda22 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Being a little racist there are you cat???

: linkicon reporticon emailicon
gramljon says:: Dr. Carson, welcome to politics. You won't be able to control what every one does and says like you have done in the operating room. Speech is not free. You have to pay a price every time you make a public utterance. Get used to it if you plan to enter the public arena full-time.; reply

linkicon reporticon emailicon

ludvig1-2009 says:

Nutcakes seem to be prominent at this convention.


luadda22 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Wow!! Yet another racist comment (and the hits just keep coming).

linkicon reporticon emailicon

FOX_PARROTS_LIE says:

Typical partisan conservative republican, attacking a leader of the opposition party, unable to realize that the division began during the Clinton impeachment, got worse after the 2000 stolen election, and then it was the bush/cheney regime that spent us into oblivion with a quadrupling of the military-industrial complex and TWO WARS while cutting taxes several times that basically benefited the wealthy and corporate elite!

Sounded just like any other divisive far-right republican figure today!


FOX_PARROTS_LIE replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Give this bozo a pimp hat and a "nein-nein-nein" playbook, and I'd swear he was herman 'the vermin' cain, tea potty darling!