Pretty brutal

Carson: Running for president 'pretty brutal'

By Nick Gass

In reflecting upon more than seven months campaigning for president, Ben Carson lamented the "pretty brutal process" in a new, wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post published Monday.

In it, the retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon laid out his plan to jump-start his stalled bid for the Republican nomination and reflected upon the challenges and victories that come with the peaks and valleys of the presidential race.

"It’s been a pretty amazing year, no question about it. Highs and lows. Obviously, going through a process like this is pretty brutal. Everybody told me that it would be, so that doesn’t particularly surprise me," Carson said. When asked what was brutal about it, Carson responded, "Well, the fact that people try to find a scandal. Of course there are no scandals, which is pretty frustrating for them, I’m sure."

As far as specific examples, Carson noted past media scrutiny about his biographical details, including a POLITICO story about a past West Point scholarship claim and repeated questions over his claim that as a troubled adolescent, he tried to stab a friend.

He also expressed regret for his suggestion earlier in the campaign that the Chinese had a military presence in Syria, remarking that "everybody knows that Chinese have physical characteristics that would make them pretty easy to identify in a setting like that."

During the Nov. 10 debate, Carson claimed that the Chinese are in Syria, along with Russian forces, an assertion widely challenged in the following days. Carson later implied that he had better intelligence on Syria than the White House, a remark that he walked back days later as "tongue in cheek."

"As far as the China thing was concerned, I probably shouldn’t have said that. I said that on the basis of what some people in the CIA tell me," he told the Post. "And of course, subsequent information came out that there is some Chinese [involvement in Syria]. But they made it seem like I’m saying there are a bunch of Chinese boots on the ground. Well, everybody knows that Chinese have physical characteristics that would make them pretty easy to identify in a setting like that. Give me a break. But they just jump on."

In acknowledging his shortcomings in the foreign policy arena, Carson was asked whether he wished he had addressed those issues sooner.

"You know, it is what it is," he said.