Ben Carson Struggles With Questions About The Debt Ceiling

Presidential hopeful Ben Carson stumbled over his stance on whether or not he would raise the debt ceiling during a radio interview Wednesday.

As for Trump, Carson said he would consider serving as his vice president, but would have to decide “whether that was really the best use of my time and my influence”. In fact, just the opposite. Carson, much like Trump, has catapulted to the top of the polls without even a passing knowledge of relevant issues. Specifically, he asked Carson whether he would support raising the debt limit.

Carson added, “I wouldn’t have signed anything that, in any way, would have increased our obligations”.

Ryssdal: I’m gonna try one more time, sir. “This is debt that’s already obligated”.

Raising the debt limit only gives the federal government the authority to borrow money to pay the bills on debts it has already incurred.

“What I’m saying is what we have to do is restructure the way that we create debt”, Carson replied. “And what I would say is you know, there are 645 governmental agencies and sub-agencies and they all have budgets, and I would have long before we got to this stage been looking at that and looking at other things, because we always end up in the same situation”. Should the Congress then and the president not raise the debt limit? As Ryssdal politely reminded him, the debt limit has nothing to do with current or future budgets; it’s about honoring the debts we’ve already incurred.

Carson also told Marketplace that the rate of his flat tax would be “closer to 15 percent” than 10 percent. “You also have to recognize that all the spending that we’re doing, in my opinion, is not legitimate spending”, he said.

This wasn’t the only economic snafu Carson hit during his interview.

But Carson, who has never served in government or run for office before, has been dogged by a seemingly never-ending string of statements – critics see them as gaffes, tone deaf, and revealing an ignorance of public policy, while backers say they show he’s unafraid to speak common-sense truth that others shy away from.

In March, he said homosexuality is a choice because people “go into prison straight – and when they come out, they’re gay”, during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day”. Pressed on whether he would allow the government to default, Carson said he wasn’t endorsing that strategy.

He later tried to clarify that he would support a Muslim if the candidate rejected the tenets of Sharia law.

Ryssdal takes four cracks at getting Carson to indicate that he at least knows what the debt ceiling is, and Carson never engages.

“I think he would probably encounter less resistance if he wasn’t trying to politicize a tragedy like this”, Carson said.

Neurosurgeon and author Ben Carson speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

He also defended Rupert Murdoch, who said in a recent interview that Obama has not acted as a “real” black president.