"It's not my intention to do that, but as I always say in every part of my life, I will leave that up to God."
So said Dr. Ben Carson Sunday when he was asked on ABC's This Week if he's going to run for president (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JONATHAN KARL: We're seeing the Wall Street Journal had a lead editorial saying “Ben Carson for President.” Thank you for joining us.
DR. BEN CARSON: Well, thank you for having me.
KARL: Typically prayer breakfast speeches don't get this kind of attention. You got more than 2 million views on YouTube of this speech. What do you make of this reaction?
CARSON: Well, I make of it the fact that before I gave that talk, I prayed and asked God to give me wisdom, what to say, what would resonate, what would be important, and, you know, I don't think it was particularly political.
KARL: Some people do.
CARSON: I know they do, but to be able to express an opinion about something that is problematic. You know, I'm a physician. I like to diagnose things, and, you know, I've diagnosed some pretty, pretty significant issues that I think a lot of people resonate with, and, you know, I've just been kind of overwhelmed by the response, particularly a lot of older Americans who say they had given up on America. And, you know, what we really need is to be able to tone down all the rhetoric and be able to discuss things in a reasonable and rational way and come to conclusions rather than one side or the other side winning. If we can do that, I think there's real power in that.
A bit later, Karl asked his guest the $64 million question:
KARL: Unfortunately we're out of time, but before you go, I got to ask you. So the Wall Street Journal "Ben Carson for President.” You're retiring as a surgeon this summer. What do you make of it? Are you going to get into politics?
CARSON: It's not my intention to do that, but as I always say in every part of my life, I will leave that up to God.
KARL: That sounded far from ruling it out. Thank you very much, Dr. Ben Carson. We appreciate your time.
CARSON: Thank you.
I'm actually surprised Carson's references to God didn't end up on the cutting room floor.
Of course now there's more for liberal media members to complain about - and they will.
Count on it.
