Ben Carson’s Violent Past Includes Stabbings, Critics Say GOP Man Unfit For Presidency

Ben Carson’s violent past is fairly intense by his own admission. In an honest interview, he admitted to stabbing someone as a teenager, although he qualified that statement by noting how he has changed since his youth. Some critics are not willing to accept this explanation on the face of it and are now claiming that Carson’s violent history should disqualify him for running for president.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Ben Carson’s Medicaid plans have some critics claiming that the 2016 GOP candidate wants to get rid of the popular welfare programs. But Carson is calling those critics out, claiming they are merely spouting “propaganda.”

Ben Carson’s violent history as a youth came out during a recent interview with Meet the Press. In it, Chuck Todd asked Carson about the accusations that he lacked “energy” in relation to other Republican 2016 candidates. This issue had recently been brought up by Donald Trump, so Carson turned it into a reflexion on his youth, agreeing with Todd that people mistook his “soft-spokenness” with a lack of energy.

“I think so,” Carson replied. “I have plenty of energy. But, you know, I am soft-spoken. I do have a tendency to be relaxed. I wasn’t always like that. There was a time when I was, you know, very volatile. But, you know, I changed.”

When the Meet the Press host asked for more details, Ben Carson’s violent history was revealed.

“As a teenager. I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers. And, of course, many people know the story when I was 14 and I tried to stab someone. And, you know, fortunately, you know, my life has been changed. And I’m a very different person now,” said Carson.

This revelation is actually not new. Carson has been quite open about the violence of his youth in the past, and he even wrote about the subject in his autobiography. He also discussed the stabbing incident in more detail with the Daily Caller back in 2014.

“I had real anger issues. I would just fly off the handle and really become quite irrational and try to hurt people with baseball bats, hammers, whatever. In this particular case, I happened to have a large camping knife. And, you know, one of my friends angered me. And I just lunged at his abdomen with the knife. Probably would have seriously injured or killed him, but he happened to have on a large metal belt buckle under his clothing, upon which the blade broke.

“And, of course, he fled in terror. But I was more horrified than he was, because I realized that I was trying to kill somebody over nothing — and that I would never realize my dreams of becoming a physician. And I would end up in jail, reform school, or the grave. And I just locked myself in the bathroom and started praying.”

Even though this incident took place over 40 years ago, some critics are claiming that Carson is unfit to be president. For example, a writer for the progressive website Politicus USA claims that “Republicans freaked out when Barack Obama admitted before he was a candidate that he smoked pot,” but Carson’s past could have the GOP thinking twice.

“People make mistakes as teenagers, but going after people with rocks, bricks, and baseball bats are not incidents that should be brushed off and overlooked,” claimed the website. “If the shoe was on the other foot, and a Democratic candidate had this kind of behavior in their past, Republicans would be saying that the candidate is not fit to serve as president.”

While Carson has not directly responded to this new controversy, in the past he has noted the irony of the story.

“It’s very ironic. What could have ended a life for me, ended up being what gave life to thousands… a scalpel.”

What do you think? Should Ben Carson’s violent past disqualify him automatically for being the U.S. president?

[Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]