Ben Carson: ‘People Who Are Very Ambitious Should Not Be President’
Worst surrogate ever or THE worst surrogate ever?
Oh, Ben Carson. Sweetheart, he may be, but the man is never short on gaffes.
On Fox News’ Outnumbered Tuesday, Dr. Carson, former Republican presidential contender, now Donald Trump spokesman had some interesting things to say about ambitious individuals:
“People who are very ambitious and who will do whatever it takes in order to achieve their goals are people that probably should not be President of the United States,” said Carson.
“That’s the only way to become President!” said Melissa Francis.
Now I can understand that self-serving individuals aren’t ideal presidents because no good leader is selfish. But resolute goal-making and the ability to follow through are essential components of any good leader so I’m not quite sure where Carson is getting this whole ambition is a negative thing. Sounds a little too social justicey for my tastes.
[h/t Mediaite]
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Comments
LOL, not surprising that you don’t get it KK. In your defense I’m sure you won’t be alone in not getting it.
There are two candidates this election cycle who have had multi-decade burning ambitions to be President. One is Hillary Clinton and the other is Ted Cruz.
Donald Trump on the other hand is the reluctant candidate stepping forward at great personal sacrifice to run for the good of the country.
Good Lord.
Cultists like you is a big reason why Obama won, twice.
http://www.dailywire.com/news/5248/10-indicators-youve-joined-trump-cult-ben-shapiro#pq=8lT20u
Conservatives are not hero worshipers. We don’t chase after a bus to prove our fealty to some other citizen.
And we don’t publish hilarious lies in slavish suck-a-tude to a narcissistic Collectivist asshole, either.
I see what you are saying, Rags, but when I hear conservatives go all slobbery and refer to Ronald Reagan as Renaldus Magnus, I see hero worshipers, as if they have shrines in their homes like so many Depression-era Democrats had for FDR. Both are equally embarrassing.
What you really mean is Cruz isn’t likable enough for anybody to want to chase after his bus.
Correction: Donald Trump on the other hand is the recalcitrant candidate stepping forward
As the old saying goes, you are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own set of facts.
Trump, not Cruz, floated the idea of a presidential run in 1988.
Trump, not Cruz, floated the idea of a presidential run in 2004.
Trump, not Cruz, floated the idea of a presidential run in 2012.
Trump, not Cruz, actually ran for president in 2000.
Trump, not Cruz, wanted to run for governor of the State of New York in 2006 and 2014.
While Cruz was graduating from high school, Trump activity sought the presidency.
It is clear that your statements on Trump not having “a multi-decade long desire to be president” are factually wrong.
It is also clear that the idea that Trump is a “reluctant candidate” is not only false, but laughable and absurd.
And you gitarcarver are not entitled to make up your facts.
Lots of people TALK about politics. That’s all Trump did. People with a burning desire to be President actually RUN FOR PRESIDENT AT THEIR FIRST OPPORTUNITY. That defines BOTH Hillary and Cruz who started planning to be President when he was in High School and immediately upon being elected to Senate he started organizing in the primary states.
The fact that Trump “talked” about it but never acted on it shows how RELUCTANT he was. It was also a way to get publicity for his business interests.
Your claim that Trump actually ran for president once is just plain WRONG. He never filed paperwork to start a campaign.
Unfortunately Garry, you are simply ignoring the facts.
Trump campaigned as a Presidential candidate for the Reform Party in 2000. After a speech in St. Louis, Trump announced that he was ending his campaign. If, as you assert, he was not running for the office, what exactly was he ending?
(It is interesting to note that when he stopped campaigning, Trump’s stated reasons were that the Reform Party leadership was a mess and that they were aligned against him. Sound familiar?)
And yes, there are lots of people that talk politics but very few of them form committees that actually explore running as Trump did.
If you want to say Trump did these things for “business,” all that shows is that Trump has been a charlatan for his entire life and not just this political run.
No matter what you try and convince people of, while Trump was exploring runs for President, Cruz was still in high school, attending law school, clerking for the Supreme Court, and serving the people of Texas.
Your belief that Trump hasn’t held a multi-decade desire to run for President is a lie.
Trump never filed the FEC forms and financial disclosures required to run prior to 2015.
Do you ever listen to what you are saying?
You said that Cruz and Hillary had a “burning multi-decade desire” to be President.
Did Cruz file to run for the Presidency before this cycle? (Hillary of course did.)
So if one uses the same standard of “burning desire” that you have applied to Trump and apply it to Cruz, then there is no “burning desire” as you state.
But the fact of the matter is that Trump’s actions showed him pining to be president. Despite your denial, Trump CAMPAIGNED in 2000 for the Reform Party nomination.
Whether he registered with the FEC does not matter when it comes to his “burning desire” to be President that you believe Cruz has.
Clearly your defense of Trump in this and your attack on Cruz is hypocritical.
Rafael Cruz was Canadian until 2014.
I’m not sure I’d consider what Hillary wants as a burning desire. Arson, maybe.
Hillary doesn’t want to burn anything down. She’s quite happy with the system as it is, just so long as she can scramble to the top of it. But she’s not a revolutionary; she’s a grifter. Bernie would be the guy who wants to burn things down; revolutionaries want to clear out the old world so there’s room for the new one. The details vary, whether the New World will be that of Soviet Socialist Man, National Socialist Man, or some other Socialist Man who hasn’t become popular yet. But the destruction phase comes first. (And a good thing too, as that’s easier and a lot more fun.)
Donald Trump on the other hand is the reluctant candidate stepping forward at great personal sacrifice to run for the good of the country.
You should call 9-1-1 immediately. Surely, there’s some medicine that can help you.
Yeah, sure, Donald Trump is the very model of “reluctant” and “self-sacrificing”, you betcha.
And Obama is humble, Hillary is honest, and Sanders is a capitalist.
How are things over there on Bizarro world?
One is Hillary Clinton and the other is Ted Cruz.
Yes, that would seem to be the plain reading of the text.
But not around here, where Aristotelian logic has become déclassé, if not quite infra dignitatem.
I used to like Ben Carson and his principles. However, he’s got his head so far up Trump’s rear his hair is going to start turning orange as well.
Seems to be Dr. Carson is dropping bread crumbs so he can find his way out of the tRump trap. Not sure how he was co-opted but wonder if some promise was made to stave off a slander suit w/regard to the child molester comment.
It’s a good thing becoming a brain surgeon and then running for president don’t require one to be very ambitious.
Fuzzy, you may have read “T-rump’s” (HA!) books and followed his TV appearances over the years. I have never given a rat’s ass.
I do recall his announcing for a POTUS run decades ago IIRC, and he’s alluded to it many times according to my memories, contra the lying liar who lies, Gaghdad Bob Britt.
You or someone else can illuminate.
I know Trump was on the short list for VP in 1988. I believe he has either ran or tested the waters on a run for president every election cycle since at least 2000.
Nope its never gone past the talking about it stage. People wanting donations from him may have talked things up in the press, but that isn’t him with a burning desire to be president.
Maybe you should try to research before you say something stupid. Even Trumps Wikipedia says he ran for president in 2000 and here is a timeline
http://www.tvguide.com/news/donald-trump-presidential-campaign-timeline/
Gary Britt,
The problem with your assertion is that you assume that were people out there looking to donate to Trump in spite of his wishes and desires not to run for the office.
That just ridiculously stupid.
Secondly, as it was Trump floating the idea of running for office, are you saying his comments were lies? That when he said he was looking at running, he really wasn’t looking to run? That his campaign in 2000 was just another lie?
In another post in this thread, you said that Cruz was talking about being President in High School. If that is true, why is it that you use his thoughts against him but dismiss the thoughts and actions of Trump who looked into running every presidential cycle since 1988? Are you that selective in what you believe?
Trump was eligible to run for President in 1988 while high school student Cruz was not. Trump acted on his desires to be president. Cruz went off to college. Somehow you think Trump’s words and actions are not evidence of him wanting to run for the office while Cruz doing nothing to get elected to the office is an indication of a “multi-decade plan.”
I know that there is nothing that anyone can say that would persuade you away from Trump but really, your positions and beliefs on Trump are contrary to the facts, illogical and often hypocritical.
That is not surprising because going against facts, being illogical and a hypocrite are trademarks of Trump himself.
Trump didn’t file the FEC Form A and financial disclosures required to officially run until 2015. So prior to 2015 he never ran. He did toy with the idea of running on the reform party but changed his mind because at that time he wasn’t a supporter of prior reform party nominee Pat Buchanan.
“If you are running for the U.S. House, Senate or the Presidency, you must register with the FEC once you (or persons acting on your behalf) receive contributions or make expenditures in excess of $5,000. Within 15 days of reaching that $5,000 threshold, you must file a Statement of Candidacy”
If Trump wasn’t accepting donations yet in 2000 he would not have been required to have filed paperwork before he dropped out of the race.
This is patently incorrect, Gary, as Trump had established himself as a potential candidate for the Reform Party in 2000. Try Google before you write your comments; the more you are shown to write untruths, the less even Trump fans will believe you.
Gary,
Nice try at shifting the goalposts. The issue that YOU raised was the :multi-decade burning desire” to be President.
Now you want to flip and talk about filings.
Tell me Gary, when did Cruz file to be President? In 1988? In 1994? 2004? 2004? 2012?
If your standard of proof of a “burning desire” is paperwork, then your accusations against Cruz fail.
If you want to talk about actions and words, Trump has had a desire to be President for a long time. You can stick your head in the sand, but that doesn’t change the facts.
Hey Rags, well, I’ve never been a Trump fan, but I did do quite a bit of research on him when he was toying with a presidential run in 2011-12. He has, according to ex-girlfriends and ex-wives as well as in his own words and by his own actions, always wanted to be president. His first wife, Ivana, is on the record stating that he was going to run in the 1980’s but his affair with Marla Maples made “America hate him” (her words, not mine). Trump didn’t marry Maples until the early 90’s, but his divorce from Ivana took several years, so her timing may be accurate.
In a 1988 interview with Oprah, Trump was asked about rumors that he was preparing to run for president, and he was coy about it, suggesting that he would do so if things didn’t go as he thought they should. Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/SEPs17_AkTI
In another recent interview, an ex-girlfriend said that Trump had talked about being president throughout their relationship in the early 1990’s (and that she thought he’d make a great one).
Trump actually established a “Trump for president” organization in 2000 as a Reform Party potential candidate (Ross Perot’s creation, which apparently still has members to this day), as he intended to run that year, but ultimately didn’t garner enough support for a serious run (this was the same thing that happened in 2012; he didn’t get enough support, didn’t want to release his financials, and ultimately went back to television rather than “make America great again”). Two of the myriad problems with his proposed 2000 run were his choices to run as a Reform Party candidate and his declaration that he would want Oprah Winfrey to be his running mate. America laughed at him (as it should be doing now, too). Trying to prove that he was serious about a 2000 run, Trump released the now infamous “The America We Deserve” which is a hodge-podge of progressive, leftist, center-right, and Trumpist policy proposals. America laughed at that, too. He didn’t get far that year, either, and officially ended his presidential campaign on the Today Show.
Trump’s ambition has clearly been, since at least 1988, to be president. That he never made it very far is due to his own failings and bumbling. Failings and bumbling that he has in part corrected (this time he’s not saying Justin Beiber should be his running mate, for example) and failings and bumbling that he has not corrected but that are not laughed off the national stage now as they were in past decades.
If I’m reading him right, I agree with him.
Politics was never intended to be a career when the country was founded. Although it is probably inescapable at this point, the merit of the argument is very real because establishment politicians are a huge source of distrust and resentment for all sides of this country’s voter population.
“People who are very ambitious and who will do whatever it takes in order to achieve their goals are people that probably should not be President of the United States,” said Carson.
I thought reporter Michelle Fields had the “little bomb”.
“People who are very ambitious and who will do whatever it takes in order to achieve their goals are people that probably should not be President of the United States,”
Like I said, that describes BOTH Hillary and Cruz and their ambition to be President perfectly. Trump not at all.
The mind boggles at the amount of self-delusion required to be able to flatly deny (“not at all”), apparently with a straight face, the blindingly obvious fact that Trump is pretty much the personal embodiment of “very ambitious and will do whatever it takes in order to achieve their goals”.
Cruzbot minds boggle at the drop of a hat as firmly evidenced by KK and all the cruzbot commenters.
Stuff and nonsense
Some of you seem to be confusing “industrious”, “accomplished”, or “diligent” with “ambitious”. Carson is right to be leery of the ambitious, which is why I can’t understand why he would endorse Trump, a man of outsized, grandiose ambition coupled with precious little achievement.
I understand that today is going to be a very bad, terrible, no good day for the cruzers and never trumpers.
Why? We expect the Collectivist NE to vote strongly for the Collectivist lying fraud from New York. No surprises. All as predicted.
Carson is obviously talking about POLITICAL AMBITION as opposed to people in normal life seeking to be the best they can be, do the best they can in their chosen profession.
The problem with people who are Politically Ambition, especially if they are not otherwise accomplished in private life, is that they crave POWER for POWER’S sake. Again that describes Hillary and Cruz, but not Trump at all.
Yes, yes. The humble, self-effacing Man From WrestleMania. The little man, raised by life from his meager beginnings as a poor black chile in mean hollars of rural Queens, Nuevo Ork, making his way with a few measly millions to rise over the crushed bodies of his partners and others who trusted him to become the (putative) billoooooooaire we know today. Beloved of dozens (who are still in the will).
And who counts as “charitable donations” his used underwear. Oh, no, sorry… That was Al Gore. Who also had to chop tobacco and never, ever aspired to public office…
You are incredible, you lying SOS. Just simply incredible. As in, nobody could believe you.
Ben Carson is a sad, sad man. Also, he is totally out of it.