Ben Carson campaign admits story of West Point admission was a lie

[umbertino]

Carson confronted with records obtained by Politico that he never sought admission to prestigious military academy, despite claims made in his memoir

 

 

Tom McCarthy in New York

 

Friday 6 November 2015 17.56 GMT

 

 

 

Doubts about the veracity of stories Republican presidential frontrunner Ben Carson has told about his life multiplied on Friday when his campaign admitted he had made up a tale about being offered a full scholarship to the prestigious West Point military academy.

 

The Carson campaign was confronted with records from West Point showing that he had never sought admission nor been admitted to the academy, reported Politico.

 

“Dr Carson did not seek admission,” his campaign manager admitted in response.

 

A West Point admissions officer told Politico the academy had no records of a Carson application. “If he chose to pursue [the application process] then we would have records indicating such,” the officer was quoted as saying.

 

This directly contradicted an account Carson published in his bestselling 1990 memoir Gifted Hands and elsewhere about being offered a scholarship to the academy after an outstanding performance in a reserve officers training corps (ROTC) program in his Detroit high school.

 

“At the end of my twelfth grade I marched at the head of the Memorial Day parade,” Carson writes in Gifted Hands. “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 [sic] were present.

 

“More exciting to me, General William Westmoreland (very prominent in the Viet Nam war) attended with an impressive entourage. Afterward, Sgt Hunt [Carson’s ROTC adviser] 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.”

 

In addition to the line about the admission and scholarship, the circumstances of Carson’s reported meeting with Westmoreland were also cast into doubt by Carson’s campaign manager, Barry Bennett. In a statement obtained by the Guardian, he wrote:

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. 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 run 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.

 

The news broke just as Carson took the lead in terms of polling averages in the Republican presidential nominating race, edging ahead of rival Donald Trump, who leapt on the admission on Twitter:

 

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

"@Robostop10: @realDonaldTrump This is not good. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/ben-carson-west-point-215598 …" WOW, one of many lies by Ben Carson! Big story.

5:46 PM - 6 Nov 2015

 

 

 

 

Carson’s personal story, a dramatic tale of growing up in poverty with incidents of violence in Detroit and rising to the pinnacle of professional success as a pioneering neurosurgeon who was awarded the presidential medal of freedom, is one of the central themes of his campaign, which has attracted broad support with its message of self-reliance, faith in God and a need for national unity.

 

But the fake West Point admission is only one of many details of Carson’s stories about his early years to have come under scrutiny in recent weeks.

 

The candidate responded with uncharacteristic defensiveness and annoyance in an appearance on CNN Friday morning in which he was asked about details of another incident he described in Gifted Hands and elsewhere that has been called into question.

 

In that incident, Carson said he tried to stab a friend or acquaintance as a middle-schooler but his knife hit the person’s belt buckle and broke. In Gifted Hands, the scene is a set-up for Carson’s discovery of God, in which he suffers an emotional breakdown, realizing what he had done, retreats to a bathroom and emerges reborn.

 

Asked about discrepancies in various versions of the account of the attempted stabbing he has given, Carson said for the first time on Thursday that the near-victim was “a close relative”, not a friend or acquaintance, and that that close relative did not want to talk to the media.

 

Carson then accused the press of “pathetic … lies”.

 

“I saw your article,” he said on CNN, referring to a piece interviewing the candidate’s former classmates. “I didn’t see any elementary school friends there. It’s a bunch of lies. That’s what it is. A bunch of lies, attempting to say that I’m lying about my history. I think it’s pathetic.

 

“Obama was not vetted like this,” Carson continued. It “doesn’t even come close to what you guys are trying to do in my case.

 

“It is just garbage. We have too many things that are important to deal with.”

 

 

A West Point admissions officer told Politico the academy had no records of a Carson application.

Photograph: Nikki Boertman/AP

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/06/ben-carson-campaign-lies-west-point-admission-memoir

 

[dog53]

I for one would not believe CNN if they were carrying a bible and walking on water.

They like the rest of the main stream media.

Will say and do whatever it takes to fulfill their socialistic agenda. 

[Shabibilicious]

Embellishment and even lying have been known to be rather prevalent traits among adolescents......He certainly didn't fake his way into being one of the top brain surgeons in the country.  Not that it matters, but he gets a pass from me.  Kids will be kids.    

 

GO RV, then BV

[Shabibilicious]

How long before somebody kicks in The Donald's closet door.....that's the question?    

 

GO RV, then BV

[dog53]

How long before somebody kicks in The Donald's closet door.....that's the question?    

 

GO RV, then BV

 

 

Yeah dead bodys will probably fall out of it.

Trump is definitly not my pick for president.

I mean

I think president and I think

integrity

honesty

humility

sincerity

I think trump and I think

 

f    off 

[new york kevin]

Amen Shabs. I care about the fact that he pursued a life out of the ghetto, or ghetto like, and rose to the pinnacle of his field. Not very many can say that. Can anyone at CNN? CNN, Can't No No-bama! Do unto all candidates, past and present equally. Why is BLM quiet on this?

[new york kevin]

Besides, what does this matter anyway? To quote Hilliary. Every job this man had he did to the best of his ability. He did not take a job where he deligated his responsibilities to underlings! It was such a minuscule embellishment. How many folks embellishment did Obama make on his resume. Like his Bility to qualify for his Chicago house? How many embellishments did Hiliary make? Like she doesn't know how those files Akanasas D. A.'s were seeking ended up in the trunk of her car after the investigation closed for lack of evidence. Bengazzi anyone. What kinda of woman would back their husband to the end with all the affairs he had? In and out of office and under the color of authority. Many state and federal agencies should have, would have paid big checks to all women he sexually harassed . Getting a BJ from a impressionable intern should have landed him in jail for sexual assault. She embellished the point that Bj's and sperm stained dresses do not constitute sexual relations. So what, that stuff was Bill's way of embellishing a hardy hand shake?

Are the Dems that desperate to keep Obama the only black person elected to POTUS?

[yota691]

Carson's 1990 autobiography, 'Gifted Hands,' he wrote: "Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point." He added that despite turning the offer down, "As overjoyed as I felt to be offered such a scholarship, I wasn't really tempted."

Carson'

s campaign said on Friday that his grades and conversations with ROTC officials constituted a de facto acceptance to the academy, which provides full scholarships to all of its students.

"Dr. Carson, as the leading ROTC student in Detroit, was told by his Commanders that he could get an Appointment to the Academy," Watts said. "He never said he was admitted or even applied."

West Point confirmed on Friday there was no record of Carson completing an application for admission. It is possible someone nominated him for the academy, but that would only have been an early step in the multi-part process of admission.

 

 Ben Carson had met Gen. Westmoreland and the general talked about giving Mr. Carson a chance to study at West Point. Then, this was only a conversation and an application (appointment) was never conducted.

 

[divemaster5734]

Know what's totally cool about this

 

It means Dr. Carson is now officially in the "threat" classification to libtards.

 

It's an acknowledgement from the loonie leftie haters that they are now pouring their spiteful, bigoted, narrow-minded, feckless energies into trying to destroy him, and if all they can find is a insanely weak way to twist words into a singular focus when they were not spoken that way, only means the little spoam drunk indignant little tree humpers are going to have to spend many many more hours immersed in their mindless search for anything, anything at all,  to try to take away from the reality that their prize cow is just a walking sack of rotten meat....JMHO

[Markinsa]

Ben Shapiro Breaks Down Politico hit Piece on Ben Carson, Explains why he Isn’t Lying

 

Michael Cantrell
November 6, 2015 2:35 pm

 

Dr. Ben Carson is no doubt having a very rough day as the media is enjoying a feeding frenzy over a recent piece penned by Politico, which states that his campaign “conceded” to fabricating a story about receiving a scholarship from West Point.

 

Many on the right began freaking out — I won’t lie about it, I was one of them — thinking this was the end of the road for Carson, but conservative genius Ben Shapiro just gave an amazing breakdown of the Politico article that sheds a whole lot of light on the situation.

 

From The Daily Wire:

 

Politico began thusly:

 

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

 

The key word here is “fabricated.” Did the Carson campaign admit any such thing? Absolutely not. The facts reported by Politico don’t even support this interpretation of the Carson campaign’s response. According to Politico, Carson said in his 1992 memoir Gifted Hands that he was offered a “full scholarship” to West Point after dining with General William Westmoreland in 1969. Here’s the relevant passage from Carson’s autobiography:

 

At the end of my twelfth grade I marched at the head of the Memorial Day parade. 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. I didn’t refuse the scholarship outright, but I let them know that a military career wasn’t where I saw myself going.

 

That’s the entire relevant portion of Carson’s account. He reiterated that account last month in an interview with Charlie Rose, when he said, “I was offered a full scholarship at West Point, got to meet General Westmoreland and go to Congressional Medal of Honor dinners. But decided really my pathway would be medicine.”

 

Politico followed up on this story. They reported one additional pieces of information that seem to conflict with Carson’s story: Carson never applied to West Point, and was never extended admission.

 

But Carson never said he applied. He said he was extended a full scholarship offer. What’s more, West Point doesn’t offer scholarships: all admission is free contingent on serving in the military afterwards. It thus seems probable that Westmoreland or another military figure tried to recruit Carson, telling him that he wouldn’t have to pay for his education – and that Carson read that as a “full scholarship,” and never applied.

 

In fact, that’s exactly what Carson’s campaign manager said to Politico in an email:

 

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.

 

But here’s how Politico editorialized: “When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.”

 

That’s nonsense. They did no such thing. They provided details that corroborated Carson’s story and explained his loose use of the language. If someone told you that you could go to college for free, you might reasonably conclude that you had been offered a full scholarship to attend that university. But Politico would call you a liar if you used such language to describe the exchange.

 

Politico more or less played fast and loose with the definition of “fabricated” and twisted up Carson’s account, along with his campaign’s response to make it look like it’s saying something it’s not, which is a typical leftist media tactic, proving this “publication” has a serious agenda and it isn’t pro-freedom.

 

You can bet your bottom dollar there’s no way these hacks would ever craft such a piece about Hillarious, Obama, or Bernie Sanders, despite having piles of material from which they could pull from.

 

These dolts are clearly under the thumb of progressives and are willing to destroy a man’s character and integrity over it as a means of promoting their agenda, removing any possible threat to the goals they hope to accomplish, which are nothing short of the destruction of America.

 

Isn’t it strange how quickly the media has started putting their sights on Carson since he’s risen to the top of several major polls? Why are they so threatened by him?

 

Is it possible leftist media is — dare I say — racist?

 

Sure, they’ve lobbed a few attacks at Trump, but nothing with this sort of venom and vigor. What’s the deal with that?

 

Perhaps they don’t see Trump as a true, legit contender for the nomination — a foolish thought on their part if that is indeed the case — but regardless of the reason, crafting a piece like this is despicable.

 

Hopefully we’ll hear an official statement from Ben Carson’s campaign soon addressing the situation and sorting things out.

[divemaster5734]

 

Politico more or less played fast and loose with the definition of “fabricated” and twisted up Carson’s account, along with his campaign’s response to make it look like it’s saying something it’s not, which is a typical leftist media tactic, proving this “publication” has a serious agenda and it isn’t pro-freedom.

 

 

Yeah, like I said....but  thanks for bringing the actual clarification, I just like having an excuse to hammer...

[yota691]

 

 

 

 

 

Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece On Ben Carson

Politico's editorial staff on Friday conceded that entire basis of attack on Carson was invented out of whole cloth.

NOVEMBER 6, 2015 By Mollie Hemingway

Politico‘s Kyle Cheney admitted that he fabricated a negative story about Ben Carson. At least, according to his own standards, he admitted the grievous journalistic sin.

In a story published early on Friday, Politico’s Kyle Cheney authored a piece headlined “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” with a subhed “Carson’s campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.”

There were at least five major problems with the story:

• The headline was completely false
• The subhed was also completely false
• The opening paragraph was false false false
• The substance of the piece was missing key exonerating information
• The article demonstrated confusion about service academy admissions and benefits

But other than that, A+++ work, Kyle Cheney and Politico.

It could take all day to parse the problems with Kyle Cheney’s now-somewhat-cleaned-up hit piece on Carson, but let’s just look at his original introductory claims:

Roughly none of this is true. Ben Carson’s campaign did not “admit” that a central point in his story “was fabricated.” Quite the opposite. The central point of the story is falsely described by Cheney/Politico as being that he applied and was accepted at West Point. Carson, in fact, has repeatedly claimed not to have applied. So any claim regarding the absence of West Point records of such an application would not debunk Carson’s point. And, again, Carson’s campaign never “conceded” the story was false at least in part because the story, as characterized by Politico, is not one he told. Further, Cheney is unable to substantiate his claim that Carson told this story. Nowhere in the article does he even explain, with facts, where he came up with the idea that Carson has ever made this claim.

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy. West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission…When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

Politico stealthily edited the inflammatory headline and lede, after the damage was done. They made changes without adding a note about what was corrected. They didn’t update the piece or add an editor’s note. The new headline is very much toned down to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied.” This is a claim not exclusive toPolitico and not newsworthy in the least. Carson himself broke this news 23 years ago when he said he was offered a scholarship to West Point but never applied. The cleaned-up story still says that Carson “conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.” To concede is to admit that something is true. But, again, Carson himself made this claim more than two decades ago, so he’s not conceding the point to Kyle Cheney or Politico simply because Kyle Cheney and Politico misread him.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel, who immediately expressed skepticism about the significance of the Politico hit that was taking everybody by storm, has a balanced take on the kerfuffle here. He also noted: 

 

daveweigel 

 

✔@daveweigel

Also, taking “fabrication” out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb.

4:22 PM - 6 Nov 2015

 

• 
   

One other quick point to make about Politico and Kyle Cheney’s piece. The original story claimed that Carson also lied by claiming he was offered a full scholarship to West Point since the service academy is entirely taxpayer funded. Or, as Politico put it: “indeed there are no ‘full scholarships,’ per se.” The only problem with this is that the academy itself describes this benefit as a “full scholarship.”

Ben Carson was a brilliant student who had already shown an interest in the military and had demonstrated leadership skills. It would be weirder if West Point hadn’t tried to recruit him than tried to recruit him. This doesn’t happen to we journalists, for obvious reasons, but exceptional students are recruited by top colleges and universities all the time.

Now, as for Kyle Cheney’s concession that he fabricated his piece on Carson. He didn’t. That’s how I’m interpreting his decision to stealthily edit his piece to remove much of the error. But Ben Carson didn’t “admit” or “concede” to fabrication and he’s been tarred by Cheney as if he had. So I’ll keep the headline.

Other critiques of Cheney and Politico are available from across the political and media spectrum here, here, here, here, and here.

At a time when the media need to demonstrate good faith efforts to cover Republicans and conservatives with even a modicum of fairness, Kyle Cheney and Politico have done a tremendous disservice to their brands.

[leanonme]

I agree with Divemaster. The left is really digging hard to bring this good man down. Shabbs, you are right too. Kids will be kids. Now the poop on Hillarious? That would be a life long list and much more recent.

[dog53]

I can sit down with 6 ole school buddys and we can be sober as judges .

Bring up a old episode of our lives and you will here 6 different versions of the same story.

This doesn't necessarily make you a compulsive lire does it?

No it dont. Any one of these so called reporters out there you has never embellished a story of their past.

Please by all means throw the first stone.

 

 

Oh wait they already did they tried to stone the poor man to death

Oops  my bad

Edited November 7, 2015 by dog53

[pattyangel]

Another attempt to bring down an individual.   Their tactic is nothing new and the people grow tired.  The more they work this tactic the more they wake up the people of their evil deceit.

CNN is a prime evil lama.