Dr. Ben Carson Bows to Pressure, Apologizes for Gay Marriage Remark

In an appearance on MSNBC, Neurosurgeon Ben Carson bowed to pressure to apologize for remarks about traditional marriage he made early last week on the Sean Hannity show.

Appearing with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on March 29, Carson tried to explain what he meant with his earlier comments about traditional marriage and was made to walk back his thoughts on how marriage should be defined.

“I think in terms of what was said on Sean Hannity’s show, that was taken completely out of context and completely misunderstood in terms of what I was trying to say,” Dr. Carson said. “As a Christian, I have a duty to love all people and that includes people who have other sexual orientations, and I certainly do, and never had any intention of offending anyone… If anyone was offended, I apologize to you.”

Carson’s backtracking occurred after MSNBC and other left-wing pundits immediately attacked him for his Tuesday, March 26 appearance on Hannity.

Compared to his later MSNBC appearance, Carson was more definitive on Hannity’s show. “My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition,” Carson said on Hannity’s broadcast.

The attacks were immediate. Soon after his appearance on Hannity, students at Johns Hopkins University started a petition to have him removed as their commencement speaker; during one discussion of Carson’s comments, MSNBC even featured a graphic saying Carson and the GOP were “blinded by the white.”

But others seem to have far less to fear from the Old Media attack machine. During Tuesday’s arguments before the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage, for instance, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor made a similar statement on same-sex marriage, combining the topic with incest, pedophilia, and polyamory. Sotomayor faced no condemnation from the Old Media establishment for supposedly comparing same-sex marriage to those activities.