PoliticusUSA

Potential 2016 GOP Presidential candidate Ben Carson appeared on CNN’s New Day Wednesday morning and told host Chris Cuomo that prisons prove that being gay is a choice. In a discussion about same-sex marriage, Cuomo asked the renowned neurosurgeon if he believed homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. Carson, who in the past compared Obamacare to slavery, answered the CNN host by saying, “Absolutely!” This then led to the good doctor informing all that men engaging in homosexual activity in prison proves that being gay is a conscious lifestyle choice.

“Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.”

After Cuomo started to refute Carson’s statement, telling the Tea Party darling that there are myriad reasons why men in prison engage in homosexual activity, Carson interrupted him by stating, ”I said a lot of people who go in come out…are you denying that’s true?” Cuomo literally rolled his eyes in response to Carson, telling him he isn’t denying that happens but is “denying that is a basis of understanding homosexuality.” Undeterred, Carson, believing he totally nailed the argument, smugly said, “If that is the case, it obviously thwarts what you had just said.”

Trying to use Carson’s ‘logic’ against him, Cuomo responded by saying “a lot of drug addicts go into jail and come out criminals…does that mean all drug addicts are criminals?” However, Carson was ready to move on at this point, as he wanted to get back to the main point — denying equal rights to gay people. Earlier in the interview, he had pushed the whole ‘states’ rights’ argument that far-right conservatives love to cling to whenever it comes to denying equal rights to a group. After totally proving homosexuality is a choice, Carson then said gay people can have protections under the law, they just can’t be married.

“Why do gay people want to get married? Why do they say they want to get married? Because they want to have various rights — property rights, visitation rights. Why can’t any two human beings, I don’t care what their sexual orientation is, why can’t they have the legal right to do those things? That does not require changing the definition of marriage.”

Below is video of Carson’s interview, courtesy of CNN:

What is amazing about Carson’s comments about homosexuality being proven to be a choice because of prisons is that he is a brilliant doctor. However, even though there have been numerous scientific studies showing that homosexuality, especially in males, is clearly an ingrained trait that has a genetic component, a renowned surgeon is going to dismiss that evidence and research to glibly follow his religious and societal beliefs because that is what makes him comfortable. And he’s likely pandering to a bigoted base of conservative voters that just hate gays. There’s always that.

Anyway, another day, another ridiculous quote from Ben Carson.

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).