Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson said Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) is running for speaker “the right way,” “I’m not sure that there’s anything useful to be gained” by criticizing former President George W. Bush for 9/11, and Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “could well be in jail” in an interview with Fox News Radio’s John Gibson released on Wednesday, that, according to Gibson’s site, took place before Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement that he was not running for president, which was made around 12:15 pm EDT on Wednesday.
Carson stated of Ryan, “I think he’s doing — he’s going about it the right way. He said I don’t want to do it if I can’t get the support, you know, of all the factions. That’s leadership, and that’s good. So, you know, I’m very encouraged to see that.”
He added that he would support Ryan “if the various caucuses support him, absolutely.”
Regarding the feud between fellow candidates Donald Trump and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush over 9/11, Carson said that he doesn’t believe Trump is blaming George W. Bush for 9/11, and that the topic wasn’t important.
When asked if Jeb Bush was right to say his brother kept the US safe, Carson responded, “There is no question that George W. Bush was laser focused on keeping us safe, and I think he did a very good job of it, no question about that. But, you know, at the same time, I would have loved to have seen more emphasis on the budget, not allowing it to get completely out of control.”
Carson added that W “kept us safe after 9/11. Now, unless he had telepathy, and his advisers had telepathy, you know, I’m not aware that they ever presented to him the clear and present danger of 9/11.” He further stated, “I’m not sure that there’s anything useful to be gained by criticizing him about that. I think there’s plenty of criticism that can go around for other things, but, you know, that’s not one of them.”
He re-iterated that he doesn’t believe that Trump is blaming W for 9/11, and that Trump is “trying to defuse what the media is trying to drum up into a big deal.”
Carson was also asked to predict who will be the Democratic nominee, to which he said Joe Biden will win because, “Hillary could well be in jail, and it’s hard to run from there.” Carson added that, “I think she may not be actually in jail, but I think the controversy swirling around that will have an extremely damaging effect.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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