Carson cancels trip to Israel and Africa

Ben Carson on Thursday canceled his weeklong trip to Israel and several countries in Africa planned to begin later this month, citing security concerns.

Doug Watts, a spokesman for the retired neurosurgeon, said "significant security concerns" prompted the cancellation of the visits to Israel, Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya, originally planned for Dec. 27-Jan. 3, according to several media reports on Thursday, including The Associated Press and Reuters. Watts did not respond to POLITICO's request for comment.


Carson visited a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan in late November in an attempt to bolster his credentials in foreign policy, an area in which the candidate himself has admitted he has not been well-rounded.

Ahead of Tuesday night's GOP debate, Carson said the questions would be a "slam dunk." In the debate itself, Carson often made comparisons to his experience as a pediatric neurosurgeon.

When asked a philosophical question about whether he could order airstrikes or wage war, knowing innocent children and civilians would be killed, for example, Carson responded: "Well, interestingly enough, you should see the eyes of some of those children when I say to them we're going to have to open your head up and take out this tumor. They're not happy about it, believe me. And they don't like me very much at that point. But later on, they love me."

He continued: "Ruthless is not necessarily the word I would use, but tough, resolute, understanding what the problems are, and understanding that the job of the president of the United States is to protect the people of this country and to do what is necessary in order to get it done."