The more Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson climbs in the polls, the more liberals attack him as regards his “black authenticity.” This week alone, Carson has been called a “safe Negro” and a “token” by both a Democratic strategist and liberal journalist.

On Sunday’s MSNBC program Up, Democratic strategist L. Joy Williams tagged Carson a “safe Negro” for Republican voters. That's both a hit on Carson – he's not authentically black – and it tars white conservatives as racists who are merely using Carson.

Take a look at the exchange between Williams and Republican strategist O’Brien Murray:

WILLIAMS: The really important thing of people supporting him because it’s, oh, there’s another black man commenting or — negatively against the president, and I don’t feel comfortable in doing so because of the race factor. So here’s someone who can do it that’s kind of… MURRAY: Not at all. The question was what was he doing. He was attacking the president, and he was going after him in such a way that was very well pointed out, where the issues were with the president with Obamacare and other things. Given his narrative and history and his bio, which is fantastic… WILLIAMS: Which is one in terms of having the, I was going to say, having the “safe Negro” comment on someone that you’re against.

Williams claims she didn’t call Carson a “safe Negro,” later telling Breitbart News:

I did not call him a “safe Negro.” In responding to the GOP panel member’s comment about Dr. Carson criticizing the President, “…a Black man attacking another Black man…”, I said that he is perceived that way by some of his supporters. That is evident even among those who are critical of my comment and sending messages to me about it. They believe Dr. Carson is ‘not like the rest of you Blacks’ (a direct quote of a message I received). If one subscribes to this thought, they believe that the default for Blacks is one of degradation, violence and poverty. The point I made is that there are those who support him because of this thought process.

In the Up transcript which appeared on Nexis (provided by MSNBC), the use of “safe Negro” is buried inside an un-transcribed “(CROSSTALK).”

As previously mentioned, this wasn’t the first time Carson has been attacked for being a black conservative. Earlier this week, Brian Beutler – a lefty white journalist at The New Republic - tweeted that Carson was the “token” black man running as a Republican presidential candidate.

In October, University of Pennsylvania religious-studies professor Anthea Butler said that Carson deserved the “coon of the year” award, and PBS host Tavis Smiley called Carson “a black bull in a Republican china shop.”