Ben Carson’s Inconsistencies in His Autobiography

The Detroit News Dug up Inconsistencies within Carson’s Writing That Took Place Here in Detroit.

Ben Carson

Gage Skidmore / Flickr

 

It was a strange weekend for Republican presidential candidate and Detroit native Ben Carson. Late last week a series of stories broke from various media outlets that picked apart things Carson wrote in his autobiography, “Gifted Hands”. Carson is said to have embellished details around an alleged violent childhood, a West Point scholarship, and an award received in a college course. The Detroit News dug up inconsistencies within Carson’s writing that took place here in Detroit with an alleged meeting with a Vietnam War general. One of the reporters on that story was Chad Livengood, who spoke with Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson.

 

  • General Westmoreland: Ben Carson claimed to have dined with famous Army General William Westmoreland in Detroit on Memorial Day 1969, but The News discovered the general wasn’t in Detroit at that time, though he had been in the city in February of the same year.
  • Stabbing: Ben Carson has also come under fire by some for overemphasizing a supposed violent past. Carson claims to have stabbed an acquaintance, though the subject of that story is unknown and friends from Detroit say they don’t recall a stabbing having happened.
  • Inconsistencies: Livengood believes that even if there are inconsistencies in an autobiography, what resonates with Carson supporters is an inspiring story as a surgeon. “Some people are so inspired, they’re not looking for all the details,” Livengood says.

To hear more of Stephen conversation with Chad Livengood, click the link above.

 

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