Top Ben Carson campaign staffers resign

“[Carson] tried to blame some of the problems in the campaign on silly things and I said Ben we all know the root of our problems, let’s not pretend it’s not Armstrong Williams”, Bennett told ABC News on the phone.

Mr Carson’s communications director, Doug Watts, also resigned due to differences with Mr Williams, Mr Bennett said.

Last week, Carson gave separate interviews to the Associated Press and the Washington Post, the Republican presidential candidate said he was “looking at every aspect of the campaign right now” and that “every job is on the table” in his campaign. “Dr. Carson is not the one that stands like Mr. Trump or Mr. Cruz and say [sic] these things and incinerate and people think because you speak loud and say fiery things you’re a leader and you’re in control”.

Since then, he has plunged 15 percentage points, according to an early December Iowa Poll of likely GOP caucusgoers conducted by the Register and Bloomberg Politics.

It’s not totally clear why Carson lost ground.

“The key word there is ‘may.’ We’re always going to be looking at it. We’re always going to be evaluating how people are performing” Carson told CNN’s Don Lemon.

And the retired neurosurgeon was using an unusual strategy that may not have had staying power.

“Unfortunately, Paris happened”, Carson told the Washington Post in a recent interview. That’s the narrative that is out there. If you’re trying to win, that money should be plowed into ads and GOTV operations in Iowa to ensure turnout on caucus night. He has never held elected office. Carson has followed the same pattern. “We’re gaining energy and this change has helped us”.

Williams also disputed Bennett’s characterization that his influence is inappropriate, and said the departures were more firings than resignations.

Back in September, Carson said Muslims are not suitable to become president, arguing that Islam is inconsistent with the U.S. constitution.

Carson once led the polls in Iowa but has seen his popularity slide in the wake of questions about his foreign policy experience.

Carson has continued to raise huge sums – his campaign announced Wednesday that it had raked in $23 million in the final three months of the year. “They’re giving me a lot more credit than I deserve”, he said. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for third place in the race at 10 percent, behind Trump at 39 percent and Sen.