Armstrong Williams, whom Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon called an “entrepreneur, media personality, strategic thinker, and dear friend of Andrew Breitbart,” joined Breitbart News Saturday to announce the nationwide release of the biographical documentary on Dr. Ben Carson, A Breath of Fresh Air: A New Prescription for America.
Dr. Carson, now retired, became the youngest physician to ever head a major division of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions when he took over as director of pediatric neurosurgery at 33-years-old. An abundance of speculation surrounds Carson as a possible U.S. presidential candidate for the 2016 Republican party.
Williams has known the Carson family for over 25 years and serves as Dr. Carson’s business manager. Carson’s sons, Rhoeyce and Murray, were with him in Alaska several years ago and helped Williams produce a documentary on Sarah Palin, which according to Williams, “was made before anyone knew who she was.”
For thirteen months, Williams followed Dr. Carson, capturing intimate moments of Carson being with his family, and documented it on film. Originally set to air on local stations in South Carolina, the decision was made to roll it out nationwide for more people to see the story of a truly great man and great American.
Williams contends that the title, A Breath of Fresh Air, is appropriate because Carson’s ideas appeal to a broad spectrum of people: “conservatives, liberals, blacks, whites, Hispanics. He connects with people… they will just say, ‘Wow he’s a breath of fresh air.’”
People will be so impressed with Carson, according to Williams, because “they think that they know him. But, they will be amazed when they see this story. He is such a good man. He is such a genius. He’s different. He’s not an ideologue. He’s a very caring person.” Beyond this, however, Williams reminds us that Carson is a surgeon by training and, as a result, he is very decisive.
Because Carson is contemplating running for president, Williams admits that the idea of letting the nation get a more encompassing view of the man prompted him to roll out the film now, a week after the midterm election.
The filmmaker draws parallels between President Ronald Reagan and Dr. Carson, saying that both of them were formerly Democrats but became disillusioned with the party. In fact, Williams says that it was Reagan who inspired him to change his party affiliation. A Breath of Fresh Air captures Carson speaking of his admiration for America’s 40th president and also his fondness of Martin Luther King.
The film does not directly discuss Carson’s ambition to run for president; in fact, it shows his family discouraging him from running for the office. He does discuss his love for his country and wishes that someone else, more qualified than himself, would enter the political stage and run.
Williams says that Carson is listening to others who are trying to draft him. Meanwhile, he is developing a prescription to remedy America’s problems. “He’s taken a very strong position on affordable care, family, business, Isis, and Ebola. He talks about them in a non political way in the documentary,” Williams explained, adding, “He shows he has a very clear vision of where this country should go.”
Bannon asked Williams why would Carson want to descend into the “muck and grime” of what modern politics has become. Williams replied, “As his business manager, it is the last thing that I want him to do.” But Williams goes on to assert that watching Carson is “like watching a tsunami—he’s a strong wind every day. I see him change, it’s like watching the Ten Commandments, watching Moses when he found out what God had for him—he became renewed and refreshed.”
Williams recounted that he has reminded Carson many times of the evils of politics, how people will try to destroy him, tear down his family, and undermine his reputation, which Carson spent a lifetime building. Yet, Williams explained that Carson told him that “I feel a deeper calling here, I can’t say I won’t do it, I can’t say I will.”
He reminded Williams of how critics undermined Lincoln and made him look goofy and unqualified to hold office, yet he made the world a better place to live, even though he gave his life. Carson also said,“You know there is some things worth dying for, there’s some things that if it causes you to lose your reputation it’s worth it, because it is not about me. If people see in me, something that I have, that can move this country forward, then that is what I’m going to do.”
Williams insists that Carson is driven by a deep love for this country, “a deeper love that America has not risen to its greatest potential.” Carson believes that someone has to change the political landscape, which in Williams’s opinion is “bloodsucking politics and destruction politics.”
“He believes that his life is prepared for this,” said Williams. “Whether he makes the move, I would be surprised if he didn’t. I see this wind gathering. I see him transforming. I believe this is his destiny.”