On Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher, the liberal HBO comedian opened the show trashing GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson by not only including him in a joke about Bill Cosby's history of rape, but also by advancing false assertions that Dr. Carson claimed to be "cured" of prostate cancer by a controversial nutritional supplement when video shows Carson clearly did not claim the supplements "cured" him.
At the top of the show, Maher began with a joke about Halloween at the retired neurosurgeon's expense:
Isn't Halloween an exciting time? I have the best costume idea this year. I got myself a handful of Xanax. Try this. You can either take them and go as Dr. Ben Carson. Or put them in someone's drink and go as Bill Cosby. So you can go either way.
A bit later, he brought up charges about Dr. Carson being involved with the dietary supplement maker Mannatech. Maher:
Oh, I tell you, the Republicans, they love Dr. Ben Carson, even though there's a little scandal brewing. Did you see the debate the other night? Well, apparently Dr. Ben told kind of a big whopper about how he never had a relationship with this herbal supplement company. And then he made speeches for them. He talked them up and their products on interview shows.
Incorrectly asserting that Carson claimed the supplement "cured" his cancer, Maher added:
He said the herbal supplements cured his prostate cancer. But, listen to this, he said he still had the prostate surgery and had it removed to be a role model. I'm not making that up. Because nothing says role model like having somebody unnecessarily stick a knife in your a**.
But, according to video of Dr. Carson's speech cited by some who make the dubious claim against the retired neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson merely recalled that his symptoms subsided after he started taking the supplements, acknowledging that the cancer still existed when it was surgically removed.
Just under eight minutes into his hour-long speech, which was mostly about his life and views on how to fix some of the country's problems, Dr. Carson recalled:
One of the fathers of one of my patients asked me if I had ever heard anything about glyconutrients. And I said, "Well, you know, I've certainly heard the term," but I didn't know anything specific about them. And he gave me the website, and I subsequently contacted Dr. Rej, and we had quite a conversation about possibilities, and he sent me some product and prescribed a regimen. And I started taking the product, and within about three weeks, my symptoms went away. And I was really quite amazed.
Rather than claiming to be "cured" by the supplement, he theorized that "maybe this could be controlled," but then opted to go ahead with traditional surgery anyway. Carson:
And I actually toyed with the idea of not having surgery done. Because it was recommended to me that I undergo surgery. And I was saying, "Well, if my symptoms went away in three weeks, maybe this could be controlled." And I started reading more about the theory behind it, the bolstering of the immune system. And, of course, the immune system is the thing that detects and destroys cancers. We are all producing cancers all the time. But if we have healthy immune systems, they're able to identify and destroy them.
And I was saying, you know, "This makes an awful lot of sense." But then I began to realize that, having a high profile, that if I did that, a lot of other people might follow that example, too, but they may not be quite as diligent as I was about taking the product, and there would be a lot of needless deaths, and I didn't feel as though I could have that on my conscience. So I went ahead and had the surgery done.
Moments later, Dr. Carson suggested that, at the time of his prostate surgery, the cancer still existed as he added:
It turns out the cancer was within one millimeter of breaking through, but it hadn't broken through, and it was able to be removed in its entirety, and I'm cured today. Now, some people have concluded that I was cured without surgery and that I was just cured by the glyconutrients. Maybe it would have happened; maybe it would not have happened. But, you know, I do not advocate abandoning traditional medical cures that have been shown to work. What I would, however, advocate is using natural products to supplement what's done by traditional medicine. The two things do not have to be adversarial. In fact, they can be really extremely complementary.
A bit later on Real Time, during the main segment which included California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, Maher called Dr. Carson "certifiably insane" for having "unnecessary prostate surgery." Maher:
He's certifiable. Certifiably insane.He has unnecessary prostate surgery. That is just the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.
The HBO liberal also found time to aim disinformation at the Bush family as he repeated debunked charges that former George W. Bush political strategist Karl Rove was involved in a racist smear against 2000 presidential candidate John McCain. Maher:
The Bush family practically invented dirty politics in the modern era. Lee Atwater, I'm sure you remember all these people, up close and personal, Roger, Lee Atwater, are you kidding? And then Karl Rove, John McCain's black baby, all that bulls***. Yeah, whenever they get in trouble, they get dirty. At least Trump insults you to your face. He doesn't have people do it, you know, and then say, "Oh, I'm above politics," and then your hatchet man does it.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portions of the Friday, October 30, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO:
BILL MAHER: Isn't Halloween an exciting time? I have the best costume idea this year. I got myself a handful of Xanax. Try this. You can either take them and go as Dr. Ben Carson. Or put them in someone's drink and go as Bill Cosby. So you can go either way.
Speaking of Dr. Ben Carson, some of the polls have him leading Donald Trump now, and Donald Trump does not like it. Today, he asked to see Dr. Ben's birth certificate.
Oh, I tell you, the Republicans, they love Dr. Ben Carson, even though there's a little scandal brewing. Did you see the debate the other night? Well, apparently Dr. Ben told kind of a big whopper about how he never had a relationship with this herbal supplement company. And then he made speeches for them. He talked them up and their products on interview shows. He said the herbal supplements cured his prostate cancer. But, listen to this, he said he still had the prostate surgery and had it removed to be a role model. I'm not making that up. Because nothing says role model like having somebody unnecessarily stick a knife in your ass.
But they love him because Ben Carson says the craziest s***. I mean, Trump says crazy s***. Ben Carson much crazier than Donald Trump. But the thing is, he says crazy s*** in a voice that sounds like he is moderating a golf game. If Jews had pistols, we wouldn't have had the Holocaust. Obamacare is a lot like slavery. I think it's worse than slavery. Evolution was the idea of the devil, I think. I am the God of hellfire, and I want you all to burn -- I mean, he's just.
(...)
MAHER: But, okay, what about somebody like Dr. Ben Carson? What do you think his greatest weakness is?
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): I don't know. I think his greatest weakness is he probably doesn't know who he is.
MAHER: He's certifiable. Certifiably insane.
REP. WATERS: I think he's still finding himself.
MAHER: He has unnecessary prostate surgery. That is just the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.
REP. WATERS: Very bizarre. And, you know, I think, as time goes by, we're going to discover who he really is.
(...)
MAHER: The Bush family practically invented dirty politics in the modern era. Lee Atwater, I'm sure you remember all these people, up close and personal, Roger, Lee Atwater, are you kidding? And then Karl Rove, John McCain's black baby, all that bulls***. Yeah, whenever they get in trouble, they get dirty. At least Trump insults you to your face. He doesn't have people do it, you know, and then say, "Oh, I'm above politics," and then your hatchet man does it.
