During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Ben Carson scolded members of the media for distorting his views on illegal immigration. Speaking to fill-in host Jim Acosta, the Republican presidential candidate argued that “[a]t some point I hope we have some responsible media which actually focuses on the problem.”
Carson’s comments came in response to Acosta misinterpreting his views on immigration, specifically through the use of drones to monitor the U.S./Mexico border:
You said that the United States should consider using drone strikes to secure the border with Mexico. What did you mean by that? Obviously, drones are used now for surveillance along the border. Are you talking about taking drone strikes at the U.S./Mexico border?
The renounced neurosurgeon stressed he was “quite clear" what he meant about the use of drones used to monitor the southern border:
I said that drones are excellent for surveillance. You know, along that border, we have miles and miles of fences, and, you know, I went there last week and didn't see any border patrol people, and those fences are so easy to scale. It’s almost like not having a fence there.
Carson went one step further and told Acosta that when he initially made those comments he knew the media would distort his views on immigration:
So drones can help with the surveillance, and no way did I suggest that drones be used to kill people. And I said that to the media at the time. I said you guys, some of you are going to go out and say Carson wants to use drones to kill people on the borders. How ridiculous. At some point I hope we have some responsible media which actually focuses on the problem.
Earlier in the segment, Carson also rejected Acosta’s question regarding his use of the term “anchor baby” and called the debate over the word a distraction from the real immigration debate:
I think it’s silly political correctness. Everybody knows what we are talking about. We need to talk about the actual issue, and stop getting pulled off into the weeds, and saying you can use this term, you can use that term, it’s so silly.
See relevant transcript below.
CNN’s State of the Union
August 23, 2015
JIM ACOSTA: Well Dr. Carson, let me ask you this on the subject of immigration, a big dispute erupted this week over birthright citizenship, on August 19, just a few days ago, let’s put this up on screen, you said “If somebody comes here for the purpose of having a baby so that they have an anchor baby, we should keep that family together and send them back to where they came from.” Let me ask you Dr. Carson, some people consider the term anchor baby a racial slur what do you think?
BEN CARSON: I think it’s silly political correctness. Everybody knows what we are talking about. We need to talk about the actual issue, and stop getting pulled off into the weeds, and saying you can use this term, you can use that term, it’s so silly.
ACOSTA: And let me ask you about something else you said earlier this week. You said that the United States should consider using drone strikes to secure the border with Mexico. What did you mean by that? Obviously, drones are used now for surveillance along the border. Are you talking about taking drone strikes at the U.S./Mexico border?CARSON: It was quite clear what I was talking about. I said that drones are excellent for surveillance. You know, along that border, we have miles and miles of fences, and, you know, I went there last week and didn't see any border patrol people, and those fences are so easy to scale. It’s almost like not having a fence there. So drones can help with the surveillance, and no way did I suggest that drones be used to kill people. And I said that to the media at the time. I said you guys, some of you are going to go out and say Carson wants to use drones to kill people on the borders. How ridiculous.
At some point I hope we have some responsible media which actually focuses on the problem. We have a huge security risk there, and talking to some of the sheriffs down there on the border, Sheriff Babo [sic], some of the other law enforcement agencies down there, listen to frustration, you should have them on your show, and let them talk about what’s actually going on down there, and it seems like we have not only the cartels to deal with, the drug smugglers, the people smugglers, but we have the federal government which is not helpful over the last couple of years, they have released 67,000 of those people.
