Ben Carson (pictured Jan. 6 in Panora, Iowa,) met with the affected student following the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rally and encouraged him to become a neurosurgeon. | AP Photo Carson's attempt to buck up Iowa student backfires spectacularly

In a painful campaign moment that went briefly viral online Thursday, Ben Carson asked a group of grade-school students who the "worst student" in their class was, prompting a handful of the youngsters to single out a fifth-grader.

“As a fifth grade student, I was a horrible student. Anybody here in fifth grade? Who’s the worst student?” Carson asked a group of students with their hands raised.


Carson was speaking at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. According to The Des Moines Register, roughly 500 people — including many students from the Isaac Newton Christian Academy — were in attendance.

After posing the question, a number of students identified the same classmate. The retired neurosurgeon seized the moment to explain that he, too, was once the worst student in his class before sharing his story of academic triumph.

“Well, let me tell you, if you had asked that question in my classroom, there would have been no doubt,” he said, adding that as a student, himself, his classmates overwhelmingly agreed that he was “the dumbest person in the world.”

Carson met with the student following the rally and encouraged him to become a neurosurgeon — just like him.

Dean Ridder, who heads the school, said the media’s version of what transpired isn’t quite the way he would describe it. “This story is much ado about nothing,” he told POLITICO in a phone interview Thursday. “Dr. Carson was making a point about how he was not the smartest person in the class in fifth grade, and our students were just kind of joking around, pointing at all kinds of people. But for some reason the press seems to single out one of them.”

Carson campaign senior communications strategist Jason Osborne singled out the student as well, tweeting an image of a boy he identified as “Seth” alongside Carson. “They bonded over shared experiences as young kids,” he said.

Ridder said Carson handled the situation well. “He spoke with the student afterward,” he told POLITICO. “He met with him, he gave him a book of his and encouraged him to become a neurosurgeon.”

Here's how a Register reporter captured the moment in real time:

Feelin like a pep rally for @RealBenCarson in Cedar Rapids. Many rowdy youngsters from Isaac Newton Christian School pic.twitter.com/XllWCjlqPC — Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 7, 2016

W/ crowd of 500 @RealBenCarson just called out to 5th grade class: who's dumbest kid in class? At least half dozen kids point to 1 student. — Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 7, 2016

.@Howie_OT @RealBenCarson it was a joke re: how he felt in grade school. But students responded before he said "just kidding" about question — Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 7, 2016

Direct @RealBenCarson quote to 5th grade class (in crowd of 500) was: "who's the worst student?" Then talked about how he also was #iacaucus — Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 7, 2016

.@RealBenCarson just met the 5th grade student back stage. Said he wants him to become a neurosurgeon #iacaucus pic.twitter.com/XAO5LRcDYJ — Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 7, 2016