Carson, Trump clash over youth recollections ideology

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Sunday that rival Ben Carson would have to explain a number of things about his West Point and youth recollections.

“He’s going to have to explain a lot of things away,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Carson, a favorite of conservative activists, is tied with Trump at the top of Republican primary polls a year before the November 2016 presidential election. His often-recounted tale of being offered a scholarship to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and other stories from his youth in inner-city Detroit have come under scrutiny.

Asked about his claim that U.S. Army General William Westmoreland offered him acceptance to West Point after a dinner with him in Michigan, Carson said, “Well I know he was there in Detroit. And I know there were Congressional Medal of Honor — you know it may not have been a memorial. But it was sometime during the time when I was the city executive officer.”

Carson’s claim that when he was a high school student, he protected white students during race riots, has also come under scrutiny.

Several media outlets said they have been unable to find a student or teacher with a similar recollection of Carson’s actions.

“But why would they know about that, unless they were one of those students? …Maybe one of those students will come forward.”

Carson has criticized the media for what he has called bias against him.

“I have always said that I expect to be vetted, but being vetted and what is going on with me “You said this thirty years ago, you said this 20 years ago, this didn’t exist” You know, I have not seen that with anyone else,” Carson said.

The 64-year-old retired neurosurgeon is tied with Donald Trump at the top of Republican primary polls a year before the November 2016 presidential election.