Ben Carson discusses his book on NBC's 'Meet the Press'. Carson: 'It's time to really move on' The presidential candidate says his history is being unfairly mined for scandals.

Ben Carson says he's under more scrutiny than any previous presidential candidate, suggesting the excessive vetting was a response to the threat he poses to progressivism and Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign.

"I have always said that I expect to be vetted, but being vetted and what is going on with me — 'You said this 30 years ago, you said this 20 years ago, this didn’t exist,' ... I have not seen that with anyone else," the Republican presidential hopeful said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."


With his long record of books and speeches, the retired neurosurgeon argued "we can spend every day from now until the election" going through the specifics of everything he's said.

"I prefer to talk about important issues," Carson said. "The American people are speaking volumes by saying they're tired of this garbage. ... But it's time to really move on. It's not time to spend every single day talking about something that happened 50 years ago."

Asked if President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton had experienced similar levels of scrutiny, Carson said no, suggesting he's the reason he's under such a microscope is "because I’m a threat."

He's a threat "to the progressive, the secular progressive movement in this country," Carson said, because according to polling data, he's the candidate who’s most likely to beat Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who's the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

But the American people aren't falling for it, Carson argued.

"Every place I go, you know, I go to a book signing, there's a thousand people in line — 'Please don't let them get to you. Don't give up. We got your back. We know what's going on. We believe you,' " he said. "And it actually is very encouraging."