Carson staffers quit, question his readiness for White House
Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson spoke in his home in Upperco, Md. on Dec. 23. Two of Carsons top paid advisers are leaving the campaign with only a month to go before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
DES MOINES, Iowa » The two top aides to Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson resigned today, citing frustration with the influence of the retired neurosurgeon’s business manager and questioning his readiness for the White House.
Barry Bennett and Doug Watts, both seasoned political operatives, stepped down with less than five weeks before voters in Iowa begin the nominating process with the state’s Feb. 1 caucuses.
Bennett was Carson’s campaign manager. Watts was communications director. But Bennett said Carson’s longtime business manager, Armstrong Williams, is the adviser who has Carson’s ear, even though Williams does not have a formal role in the campaign.
Carson is “one of the smartest men I’ve ever worked for,” Bennett said, but added that he believes Carson has become Williams’ “script reader.”
Bennett said that made it difficult to advise Carson and raised questions in his mind about what kind of president Carson would make if elected.
“You have to surround yourself with good people,” Bennett said. “And he hasn’t demonstrated that he can do that. No one wants Armstrong Williams anywhere near the Oval Office.”
Williams did not immediately return a telephone message left at his Washington office.
The staff turmoil at the highest reaches of the Carson campaign is the latest setback for his presidential bid, which displayed significant fundraising power this summer and for a brief time was atop some preference polls.
But as quickly as Carson rose to the top of the GOP field, he began to stumble. Bennett says Williams led Carson into multiple mistakes, particularly in the last two months as Carson struggled to establish foreign policy credentials amid increased voter concerns about national security.
Bennett and Watts’ decision to leave the campaign came a week after Carson told The Associated Press in an interview that he was considering a major staff shakeup, only to walk back those comments hours later, declaring that he had “full confidence” in his team.
Williams arranged for that interview without Bennett’s knowledge. Carson’s subsequent statement of support for his team was issued after discussing his initial comments with Bennett and Watts, but Bennett said Friday those events were evidence his place in the campaign had become untenable.
Carson “told everybody else ‘nobody wants staff changes,’” Bennett recalled. “Why the hell did you say it then? Armstrong had given him the talking points.”
The interview “was Armstrong’s calculation against us,” Bennett said. “Ben was just the script reader. It was horribly embarrassing to us, the whole campaign staff. One hundred fifty people went home for Christmas with their families wondering whether they would keep their jobs. Excellent timing.”
Barrow reported from Gulf Shores, Alabama.
13 responses to “Carson staffers quit, question his readiness for White House”
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I like Ben Carson. He would make a much better president than the current president, but I believe other GOP contenders are better qualified to be president. Whichever one wins the 2016 election would be wise to appoint Ben Carson as Secretary of Health and Human Services or Surgeon General of the US. I can think of no finer choice.
Ah yes, a man who cannot find countries on the map, or the names of our enemies, and openly rejects facts and science for his faith based ideas that don’t even gel with the religious timeline of his own religion.
Great choice!
Carson is done.
There is only one Republican of value left: Rand Paul. The rest are monkeys.
Obama and his 57 states takes the cake. More votes for Mr Trump. Ron Paul was good but the bankers knocked him down. Where’s the gold?
Ben is a decent person but not at all as prepared or as able as President Obama. Yes, he would make a decent Surgeon General or other non-political office. Perhaps Hillary will consider him.
Hillary to represent Bill Cosby as his defense attorney. She did a great job for the other Bill.
LOL!
Great idea! The Secretary of Health and Human Services should be someone who lied about being paid to shill for Mannatech, a company selling a crackpot miracle “cure” for cancer and autism that would fit right into a 19th century medicine show. How about a Surgeon General who believes that Satan made Darwin write the theory of evolution which, he believes, is as phony as the fossils that god scattered around the 6,000 year old earth? And believing that Obamacare is worse than slavery is a great qualification for either job. Or believing that Planned Parenthood is a plot to kill black babies — and then he says that racism doesn’t exist, nor does climate change. A fine choice indeed!
Guess they didn’t want to go out with the ship.
You bet you! Like rats abandoning a sinking “shi-“?
He never had a chance… just not ready for the big leagues. Now he can make a bigger fortune selling books and being a FOX News (or other network) “political analyst”. Then again, that might have been the plan all along. It has worked for many other candidates of BOTH parties.
Carly, Huckabee, Santorum and a few others in the GOP primary have no intention of winning the nomination. They want a high six figure pundit job post election. “Running” for president is how they get there.
The template has been there for them to replicate for the last couple of cycles. Huckabee’s and Santorum’s stock has certainly been devalued after this run.
It really was but a matter of time, he’s out of his league and often looks foolish when responding to questions. Like Trump, he does have entertainment value though.