CBS News-Donald Trump explains why he doesn’t believe Ben

Recalling passages from Carson’s book, Trump compared the retired neurosurgeon’s self-proclaimed “pathological temper” to the mindset of child molesters.

At a campaign rally in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Thursday night, the businessman let loose a winding and furious 95-minute tirade that was, at times, jaw-dropping – even by Trump’s standards.

Then, perhaps forgetting that he was in heavily evangelical Iowa, Trump redirected his insults: “He goes into the bathroom for a couple of hours… and now he’s religious, and the people of Iowa believe him….”

To undercut Carson’s account of trying to stab a boy when he was 14, only to have the knife miraculously stopped by the victim’s belt buckle, Trump staged a mock stabbing.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “Americans are concerned with “real issues”, he said, not “politics of personal destruction”.

Though Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took the stage here in Knoxville Monday to the University of Tennessee’s fight song, “Rocky Top”, the candidate that showed up was a toned-down version of the rummaging quarterback that last week unleashed a torrent of tackles against his primary rival Ben Carson.

In Fort Dodge on Thursday, he launched into several of his political opponents – calling Marco Rubio “weak like a baby”, and referring to Carly Fiorina as “Carly whatever-the-hell-her-name-is” – but he saved his most toxic remarks for Carson. I think you get more than that. The audience members who had been arranged standing behind him finally sat down.

When asked if he was satisfied with Carson’s claims that his anger was in the past, Trump responded, “You’ll have to ask him that question…”

A child molester – how’s that for breaking Reagan’s Commandment?

“I had what I only can label a pathological temper – a disease – and this sickness controlled me, making me totally irrational”, Carson said, describing the incident with his mother.

The Washington Post took that question (maybe a little too) literally and made a decision to gauge just how intelligent the people of Iowa are, along with the residents of every other state.

“Some people might not like it, ‘Oh that’s not really nice what you said.’ Don’t be fools”.

And Trump’s disdain wasn’t limited to Carson.

It wasn’t clear whether the decline was due to Trump’s attack on Carson.

What they want to say today is that Donald Trump finally went nuts and blew up his campaign.

Carson’s rise over Trump has been the most pronounced in Iowa, where the first votes will be held in 2 1/2 months. “It hit the belt and the knife broke”, Trump said mockingly. It was also early in the campaign and many were viewing Trump as a protest candidate. “That’s like, you know, I could say, they say you don’t cure – as an example, child molester”.

But if you listen closely, you’ll hear Carson say something else: Ask God, believe it and He will deliver you. “I know in this room that’s a different story”.

Carson, meanwhile, told reporters in SC the he would not engage with Trump on a personal level.