Interviewing Ben Carson for the first time on NBC’s Today on Tuesday, co-host Matt Lauer condescended to the Republican presidential candidate while citing the latest polling: “In the last four to six weeks you have gone from number one in Iowa to number three, and your decline seems to coincide with some very troubling world events....Is it a coincidence that your numbers are going down as Americans are coming to terms with moments like that?”
Moments later, Lauer noted Carson’s recent trip to Jordan to meet with Syrian refugees and demanded the GOP contender abandon his objections to allowing thousands of those refugees into the U.S.:
You had a chance to talk face to face with some of those refugees, look them in the eye and hear their stories. Would you be comfortable allowing any of the people you spoke to personally into this country as refugees to escape the war in their home country?...You’ve said you want to bar them from coming into this country. You've spoken to some of them face to face. Do you have the same opinion of that group of people now, or have you changed your policy at all?
Carson corrected him: “Well, first of all, you say that I say I want to bar them from coming into this country, so I don't accept that premise. What I have said is that bringing them into this country does not solve the problem and it exposes us to danger.”
After Carson called for more funding to be provided to maintain the refugee camps, Lauer scolded: “They are still refugee camps and just because there’s a school or recreational facilities doesn’t make them a home....these camps aren't a place where they make their future.”
Here is a full transcript of the December 1 exchange:
7:09 AM ET
MATT LAUER: Let's bring in Dr. Ben Carson now, who joins us live from West Palm Beach, Florida. Dr. Carson, it’s good to see you. Good morning.
BEN CARSON: Thank you, it's a pleasure.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Ben Carson One-on-One; On Poll Position, Trump Controversies & Iowa Strategy]
LAUER: Let me start by talking about polling. In the last four to six weeks you have gone from number one in Iowa to number three, and your decline seems to coincide with some very troubling world events that have been taking place, the Syrian refugee crisis, the downing of the Russian jet, the downing of the Russian military plane and, of course, the Paris attacks. One Republican commentator called the Paris attacks a commander-in-chief moment. Is it a coincidence that your numbers are going down as Americans are coming to terms with moments like that?
CARSON: Well, you know, poll numbers will go up and down. You know, it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. And, you know, it's not about me, quite frankly. The American people have the privilege of selecting their president, and over the course of time they will evaluate what each one of us has to say and see how it fits with their impression of what they need. I think there's plenty of time to make the appropriate arguments.
LAUER: Well, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, picked up a key endorsement over the weekend from The New Hampshire Union Leader. And in the endorsement they cited his experience as a prosecutor and a governor, said he was right for these dangerous times and also wrote, quote, “We don't need as president some well-meaning person from the private sector who has no public experience.” Now, they could be talking about you or Donald Trump or Ms. Fiorina. How do you combat that perception?
CARSON: I would simply say that our system was really designed for the citizen statesman and not for the career politician. I know the career politicians want to believe that they’re the only ones who have the ability to solve our problems, but it's not true. And I believe that the ability to assess a situation quickly and to utilize the correct people and the correct resources with wisdom is much better than many, many years in the political sphere, and I know many people in Washington who have been there for decades, and I'm not sure that they could solve our problems.
LAUER: Let me ask you about this, you just got back from Jordan, you visited a Syrian refugee camp there. You had a chance to talk face to face with some of those refugees, look them in the eye and hear their stories. Would you be comfortable allowing any of the people you spoke to personally into this country as refugees to escape the war in their home country?
CARSON: Well, honestly, I don't think that's the issue. You know, the issue is if we bring in tens of thousands of refugees into this country, have we solved the problem? The answer to that is no. Why do things that just make some people feel good and say that we've done something? When in fact, there are adequate solutions, there are good solutions.
LAUER: You’ve said you want to bar them from coming into this country. You've spoken to some of them face to face. Do you have the same opinion of that group of people now, or have you changed your policy at all?
CARSON: Well, first of all, you say that I say I want to bar them from coming into this country, so I don't accept that premise. What I have said is that bringing them into this country does not solve the problem and it exposes us to danger. You know, ISIS has already said that if we bring tens of thousands of people here, they will infiltrate them with their people, and we already have good solutions. The Jordanians are very generous people. They have camps, they have places that work very well. The refugees that I talked to in more that one camp were very grateful for what the Jordanians had done, but people are not giving enough money to support those efforts. There’s a brand new hospital there...
LAUER: And I understand that.
CARSON: ...that’s not being utilized because there’s no money to – so why don’t we take advantage of the things that are already in place...
LAUER: Yeah, but –
CARSON: ...before we start trying to come up with other things?
LAUER: They are still refugee camps and just because there’s a school or recreational facilities doesn’t make them a home. A lot of people have tried to leave those camps and move into towns and cities not only in Jordan, but all throughout Europe, and they want to come here, although they’d prefer to stay or go back to Syria. But these camps aren't a place where they make their future.
CARSON: And that's something that we can work on, you know. But many of them told me – I asked them specifically, “What would you like to happen?” Two questions: “What would you like to happen and what can the United States do?” And the answers I got were pretty consistent. They would like to go back home to Syria, number one. And what can nations like the United States do? They can support the efforts of places like Jordan and other places that might offer them a safe place to inhabit until such time as they can return home.
LAUER: Dr. Ben Carson joining us this morning from Florida. Doctor, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
CARSON: Thank you.
