2016 GOP Hopeful Ben Carson Compares ISIL Militants To America’s Founding Fathers

On Thursday, during a speech at the Republican National Committee’s Winter Meeting, neurosurgeon and potential 2016 GOP Presidential candidate Ben Carson equated Islamic State militants to American patriots who fought in the Revolutionary War. The Tea Party darling and former Fox News contributor claimed America is too worried about “political correctness” when it comes to dealing with radical Islamists while ISIL fighters are “willing to die for what the believe in.” It should be noted the “political correctness” theme has been spreading within conservative circles since the Charlie Hebdo attack.

Before a group of Republican committee members at a luncheon in San Diego, Carson seemingly praised ISIL due to its willingness to fight against the odds due to its “rag-tag” nature and made a direct line comparison to American militiamen during the Revolutionary War.

“A bunch of rag-tag militiamen defeated the most powerful and professional military force on the planet. Why? Because they believed in what they were doing. They were willing to die for what they believed in. Fast forward to today. What do we have? You’ve got ISIS. They’ve got the wrong philosophy, but they’re willing to die for it while we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness. We have to change that.”

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Carson, who has a history of making outlandish and crazy remarks, preemptively struck at the press regarding the reaction to his comments. He brought up some of his previous remarks to the crowd, claiming the liberal press uses his words against him to create a “craziness narrative.” He stated that media outlets would report that he compared ISIL to American patriots and that would be “so ridiculous.” Because, as we all know, it is ridiculous to report exactly what someone said.

The reason there is a “craziness narrative” with Carson is that he regularly makes offensively hyperbolic statements to make his points. This is the same man who said Obamacare was the worst thing since slavery. He said Americans are currently living in a “Gestapo age” that is much “like Nazi Germany.” The good doctor compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia. Carson has also made ridiculous comments about Ferguson, claiming the women’s lib movement was to blame for protests and comparing the demonstrators to Hamas.

So, yeah, when you say crazy things, people are going to label you as crazy. Of course, for some far-right voters out there, the crazier a candidate it, the better.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).