Carson goes after Katty Kay during an MSNBC interview
Things got real hot, real fast this morning when the normally calm and reserved Dr. Ben Carson appeared on MSNBC. He was a guest on Morning Joe, a program he has appeared on many times before but today things got very heated.
Carson, a Trump rival-turned surrogate, got into an on air battle with panelist and BBC anchor Katty Kay after she asked him if he thought the female accusers against Trump were liars. Carson had suggested earlier that a woman’s account of being groped on an airplane by Trump had holes. Trump himself has denied all the allegations against him.
Here is part of the interview that caused the most controversy.
KAY: I want to push you on this allegation of sexual abuse, because you seem to be suggesting this morning in this interview with your description of the first class cabin and in previous interviews that these women are lying. The real reason that women who have been sexually abused don’t come forward to talk about stories is precisely this, that all too often they are accused of being liars. Are you saying that these women are lying?
CARSON: That’s your characterization because you need to characterize it that way to try to make me the bad guy.
KAY: No, no, no. You just said — it’s a question.
CARSON: Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Hey, can you turn her microphone off, please?
Then it was time for the program host Joe Scarborough interjected saying: No
CARSON: Turn her microphone off so I can talk?
SCARBOROUGH: No, no. It’s a simple question. Yes, or no? Do you believe these women are lying or not? Nobody’s trying to paint you as a bad guy. We just want an answer, straight talk.
CARSON: It doesn’t matter whether they’re lying or not.
KAY: Of course, it matters.
CARSON: Listen, it doesn’t matter whether they’re lying or not. What matters is that the train is going off the cliff. We’re taking our eye off of that and we’re getting involved in other issues.
Then the interview began to wind down with Carson wagging his finger and saying “Listen, it doesn’t matter whether they’re lying or not,” as exasperated Kay once against pushed him to answer her yes or no question. “What matters is that the train is going off the cliff. We’re taking our eye off of that and getting involved in other issues. It can be taken care of later said Carson”
“It’s like hitting against a brick wall. Getting people and particularly people in the news media to understand how much trouble we’re in. Look at what’s happening to the future of our children,” Carson said. “It’s like you need to shake people and say, look, folks, we’ve got to deal with this. These are not Republican or Democrat issues. This is America we’re talking about. Get it through your thick skulls.”
Scarborough closed the interview and spent the rest of the segment lamenting why Carson would respond the way he did to what he throught was a simple, yes or no question. I expect that Carson won’t be returning to Morning Joe anytime soon.
The quotes used in the story came from MSNBC as well as Media Matters.