Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson hinted to media that he may consider leaving the race if the Republican Party establishment moves to manipulate the primary election through a brokered convention.
Carson responded to a report published in the Washington Post this morning about a secret, closed door meeting with party officials, during a campaign stop in Burlington.
Carson said that he may leave the Republican Party if who he called “party bosses” attempted to ‘steal’ the nomination, but denied a possible independent bid.
“I have no intention of running as an independent, but I don’t want to take part in corruption,” Carson told reporters.
Carson made those remarks after speaking to a large crowd of around 300 out at the Burlington Golf Club. Carson spent much of his time going over his foreign policy ideas, criticizing the foreign policy of the current administration as weak, and suggested keeping US Energy Prices low to undercut the Russian economy.
“We need to give the Ukrainians offensive weapons and reestablish a nuclear missile defense system. We should not allow [Russian President Vladimir Putin’s] Generals to tell us we can’t fly. Our weakness has made us the laughing stock of the world,” said Carson, “Nobody cares about what we have to say anymore.”
Carson also suggested sending money and weapons to groups allied to the United States within Syria, as well as sending troops and running an air campaign against the Islamic State.
“The best way to protect our people over here is to take the war to them over there,” said Carson. “As long as they can sit comfortably in their command center in Raqqa, they can do whatever they want. They can plan all kinds of things.”
Weighing in on frontrunner Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslim travel and immigration to the United States, Carson said it wouldn’t be necessary with a better vetting process.
“What I would do is work on having a much better vetting process, for everybody, not just for Muslims,” Carson told KBUR, “You have to recognize that the global jihadist movement is recruiting people from every place.”
Carson, the former head of Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital, has never been elected to office. His Christianity inspired social beliefs led to a spike in support in nationwide and Iowa polls last month, but Carson has started to dip in support, currently standing at fourth nationwide, and third in Iowa.
