In declaring his presidential candidacy on Monday, Dr. Ben Carson took the liberal media to task: "You know, the media, the press, is the only business in America that is protected by our constitution.... It was because our founders envisioned a press that was on the side of the people, not a press that was on the side of the Democrats or the Republicans....And this is a direct appeal to media: you guys have an almost sacred position in a true democracy. Please don't abuse it."
Carson labeled the press as being a part of America's "political class" and minutes later highlighted how it has spun reporting on the bad economy:
Now interestingly enough, many of these people buy hook, line, and sinker the idea that our economy is getting much better. And that, you know, the unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent....what you have to know is that you can make the unemployment rate anything you want it to be based on what numbers you include and what numbers you exclude. So you have to look at the labor force participation rate, which is the number of people eligible to work who are actually working. That number has been steadily going down since 2009 and is now at a 37-year low.
He warned his audience: "Unless you understand those kind of things, it's imminently possible for slick politicians and biased media to convince you that everything is wonderful when your eyes tell you something different."
Carson urged people to "use your brain to think for yourself" and not to be "manipulated by people who think that they are the king-makers, who think that they are the rulers of thought."
A Media Research Center study released Monday detailed the worst media attacks on Carson.
Here are excerpts of the May 4 speech:
11:10 AM ET
(...)
BEN CARSON: I'll tell you a secret, the political class comes from both parties. And it comes from all over the place, okay? And it includes, unfortunately, even the media now. You know, the media, the press, is the only business in America that is protected by our constitution. You have to ask yourself the question, why were they the only ones protected? It was because our founders envisioned a press that was on the side of the people, not a press that was on the side of the Democrats or the Republicans or the federalists or anti-federalists.
[APPLAUSE]
And this is a direct appeal to media: you guys have an almost sacred position in a true democracy. Please don't abuse it.
[APPLAUSE]
(...)
11:18 AM ET
CARSON: Now interestingly enough, many of these people buy hook, line, and sinker the idea that our economy is getting much better. And that, you know, the unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent. You know what? If the unemployment was down to 5.5 percent, our economy would be humming, okay? But obviously it's not. And it's one of the reasons that our founders said that our freedom and our way of live is dependent upon a well-informed and educated populous.
Because what you have to know is that you can make the unemployment rate anything you want it to be based on what numbers you include and what numbers you exclude. So you have to look at the labor force participation rate, which is the number of people eligible to work who are actually working. That number has been steadily going down since 2009 and is now at a 37-year low.
Unless you understand those kind of things, it's imminently possible for slick politicians and biased media to convince you that everything is wonderful when your eyes tell you something different. And I'm saying to people around this nation right now: stop being loyal to a party or to a man and use your brain to think for yourself.
[APPLAUSE]
That is really the key to us as a nation becoming successful again. Not in allowing ourselves to be manipulated by people who think that they are the king-makers, who think that they are the rulers of thought. They are not the rulers of thought. We the people are the rulers of thought in this nation. We get to determine what kind of nation we have. Other people cannot dictate that for us. We never allow anybody to take that right away from us.
(...)
