Ben Carson campaign seeks to clarify West Point scholarship 'fabrication'

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Ben Carson’s campaign is pushing back against a Politico report Friday that Carson admitted the story of his West Point scholarship offer was fabricated.

Politico cited a West Point spokeswoman who said the military academy had no record of Carson’s application; Carson’s campaign, in response, “conceded the story was false,” according to Politico. Their story noted:

“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.”

In an email to Politico, Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett said Carson met Westmoreland at a banquet and had a brief conversation about Carson’s ROTC performance. Bennett’s email said Carson was introduced to West Point officials, who told him they could help him get an appointment, but he ultimately decided not to apply.

The Washington Post‘s David Weigel reported Friday afternoon:

“In an interview, Carson’s close friend Armstrong Williams argued that Politico had written a false headline off of Bennett’s accurate quote.

” ‘In the story itself, the campaign does not say Dr. Carson applied to West Point,’ Williams said of Politico. ‘Dr. Carson boasts about his scores in ROTC. Westmoreland encourages him to apply. As Dr. Carson says, they were impressed by his scores, but he never applied. They said to him, we could get you in. This guy got into Yale — obviously he could have got in. The headline was a fabrication.’ “

In a Friday interview with The New York Times, Carson said:

“I don’t remember all the specific details. Because I had done so extraordinarily well you know I was told that someone like me – they could get a scholarship to West Point. But I made it clear I was going to pursue a career in medicine.”

“It was, you know, an informal ‘with a record like yours we could easily get you a scholarship to West Point.’ ”

Earlier Friday, Carson had attacked the media over reports that called into question other claims about his youth.

CNN reported this week that nine friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with the retired neurosurgeon say they have no recollection of violent incidents that Carson has claimed, including fights and an attempted stabbing.

“This is a bunch of lies, that is what it is,” Carson said on CNN’s New Day. “This is a bunch of lies attempting to say I’m lying about my history, I think it’s pathetic, and basically what the media does is they try to get you distracted.”

Carson, who is at or near the top of some Republican polls, has often said that the healing power of his Christian faith saved him from a life of violence.

In responding to the story — and attacking the media — Carson has acknowledged that he made up the names of some childhood acquaintances in discussing his violent youth in a book.

“I don’t like to generally bring them in, the names I used for instance are fictitious names because I don’t want to bring people into something like this because I know what you guys do to their lives‎,” Carson told reporters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Protesting the coverage in an interview on Fox News on Thursday, Carson said: “I would say to the people of America, do you think I’m a pathological liar like CNN does? Or do you think I’m an honest person? And I’m going to leave that up to the American people to make that decision.”

In his CNN interview Friday, Carson accused the media of selective scrutiny.

“The vetting that you all did with President Obama doesn’t even come close, doesn’t even come close to what you guys are trying to do in my case,” Carson said. “And you’re just going to keep going back, ‘He said this 12 years ago’ — it is just garbage. Give me a break.”

Reports CNN:

“On ‘New Day,’ Carson did not explain what aspects of the story he feels are incorrect. …

“Carson has had a shifting explanation of why the stories cannot be corroborated since CNN published its findings on Thursday morning.

“At first, he said CNN spoke only with people who knew him after his temper changed, but when he was informed that some of the interviewees knew him going back to elementary school and his early childhood, he said the incidents were private and that’s why others weren’t aware of them. He then returned to the earlier line Friday on CNN.”