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Ben Carson Says Obama Was ‘Raised White’ And Can’t Identify With Black Americans

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 02:58 PST, Feb 24, 2016

Ben Carson said that Barack Obama was “raised white” and never faced real racism. The GOP candidate made the controversial comments that went viral on Twitter during a political podcast on Sunday.

The Republican presidential candidate also said that if elected, he would be the first black president. Ben Carson pointed out that Obama spent the bulk of his childhood being raised outside of the United States in Indonesia and was primarily raised by a white mother and white grandparents.

Carson made a point of noting that President Obama also attended an affluent public school, seemingly to note that he had a vastly different educational experience than most black American youth.

“Many of his formative years were spent in Indonesia. So, for him to, you know, claim that, you know, he identifies with the experience of black Americans, I think, is a bit of a stretch,” Dr. Carson also said.

During the same podcast, where Ben Carson said Obama was raised white, he also noted hopes that the 2016 presidential election would stop being a “personality contest” and begin focusing more on matters of substance, CNN reports. The GOP field has narrowed greatly since the start of the primary season. Christ Christie, Mike Huckabee, Lyndsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, and Jeb Bush – who was once favored to win the nomination — have all dropped out of the race.

Although the number of candidates is now substantially smaller, many in the Republican Party are calling for the contest to become a three-man race. Both Ben Carson and John Kasich have vowed to stay in the race a little while longer. Kasich is hoping to win his home state of Ohio, where he is a very popular governor, but most current polls are predicting Donald Trump will be the victor in the winner-take-all state.

“Now that there are just five candidates left … hopefully we can talk about policies and solutions, and not just make it a popularity contest,” Carson said.

Although Donald Trump has sucked all the oxygen out of the room and gets more free TV air time than any other candidate, Ben Carson said the nomination is not sewn up just yet. The accomplished surgeon stated that he believes that American voters are far more “sophisticated” than media pundits feel they are, the Washington Post reports.

“At some point, people are going to look for some real substance,” Dr. Carson added.

Trump has won all but one primary contest so far, defying all those who maintained that once Americans actually walked into the voting booth, the billionaire’s charm and outspoken nature would not be enough to get them to pull the lever for him.

Dr. Ben Carson finished in fourth place in the Nevada Republican caucus on Tuesday. The top three candidates, Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio earned substantially more support and all-important delegates than Carson. Kasich, meanwhile, finished in last place. Jeb Bush garnered a few votes, even though he had pulled out of the race. Although Ted Cruz finished just slightly behind party establishment favorite Marco Rubio, both men earned the same amount of delegates.

What do you think about Ben Carson saying that he will be the first black president and maintaining that Obama was not raised white?

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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john kasich Barack Obama Donald Trump Marco Rubio Ted Cruz Ben Carson
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