Ben Carson hopes to distract from the hubbub his recent suggestions for a religious test for office have caused by spouting off more controversial opinions. This time, the retired neurosurgeon is arguing that "Republicans have done a far superior job of getting over racism" than Democrats.
Noting the Grand Ole Party's storied history of fighting for the abolition of slavery during a press conference held at a plaque in Jackson, Michigan, commemorating the birthplace of the Republican Party in 1854, Carson claimed that the "significance of the Republican Party is something that is lost on many."
"It was founded as an anti-slavery party, an abolitionist party. The Republican Party worked very, very hard to abolish slavery and after it was abolished to try to gain rights for the freedman including the right to bear arms," he noted.
Signing the praises of modern-day conservatives, Carson argued the GOP was still better on the issue of race than Democrats: "I think the Republicans have done a far superior job of getting over racism."
"I find black Republicans are treated extremely well in the Republican Party. In fact, I don't hear much about being a black Republican," Carson concluded. The one-time Democrat argued his former party is not welcoming to African-Americans like himself.
"If you're black and you don't think a certain way as far as they are concerned, you're an Uncle Tom, you're a sellout, you're a traitor, you hate yourself, you hate your race" he said.
"When you look at the philosophies of the two parties now, what I have noticed as a black Republican is that Republicans tend to look more at the character of people. And Democrats tend to look more at the color of their skin," Carson insisted.
But when an African-American reporter immediately asked Carson how his seemingly incongruent recent comments on a Muslim-American as President jived with his sentiments on race, the neurosurgeon denied any inconsistency and blasted what he called "PC culture":
We have an American culture and an American constitution, and anybody who’s going to occupy the White House should be living in a pattern that is consistent with our constitution and with our culture .. There is something that is known as the American way, the American dream. Why in the world would we want to give away our principles and values for the sake of political correctness? That would be the biggest mistake we could ever make.
Watch Carson's comments, via the Detroit Free Press:
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