On Sunday’s Face the Nation, National Journal reporter Ron Fournier accused Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson of “putting a target on government officials” after the retired neurosurgeon stressed the need for Americans to have the right to protect themselves from an oppressive government.
The discussion on Carson began with Washington Post reporter Ruth Marcus blasting Carson who despite his “demeanor” which “seems so reasonable” “[w]hat comes out of his mouth about guns and about other things, is remarkably radical.”
In response to Marcus’ slam of Carson, The Federalist’s Ben Domenech defended the Republican’s comments and explained that “Sam Adams talked about the ability of Americans to defend themselves when their government was dominated by vain and aspiring men.”
After Domenech asked “[h]ow is that any different?” from Carson’s statements, Fournier immediately went into attack mode:
The difference is right now we have a whole Republican Party that is spending a lot of money and a lot of time convincing the American public that this government is dominating them. So what he’s basically doing is putting a target on government officials....And I think that’s irresponsible of a presidential candidate.
For his part, Domenech pushed back against Fournier’s smear of Carson and explained that if “this government really was to rise up and say that they were going to every household in America and take their guns away, you don't think that that's an opportunity for American’s to rise up?”
The panel continued to battle over the meaning behind Carson’s comments but Fournier never apologized after he accused the retired neurosurgeon of “putting a target on government officials”:
FOURNIER: That’s not what the government’s doing.
DOMENECH: That’s not what he said.
MARCUS: He said if we have the wrong people in office.
FOURNIER: But he does say the government is dominating us and then in the next breath he says we should be able to–
DOMENECH: I do not think that is a call for arms.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS’ Face the Nation
October 11, 2015
RUTH MARCUS: But I want to take a moment to say something about Ben Caron and your remarkable interview with Ben Carson. Because you were talking to him about guns, and he said “if we have a time when we have the wrong person in office and they want to dominate the people, the people will be able to defend themselves.” I would say the solution in America when we have the wrong people in office is called elections. We have a democracy. I thought you were pressing him and appropriately so. I thought Ben Carson is a fascinating candidate because his demeanor seems so reasonable. He's a physician, we respect that. What comes out of his mouth--
BEN DOMENECH: But that’s what the founding generation said about guns-
RON FOURNIER: That’s not what they said.
DOMENECH: That is what they said.
MARCUS: What comes out of his mouth about guns and about other things, is remarkably radical.
DOMENECH: Sam Adams talked about the ability of Americans to defend themselves when their government was dominated by vain and aspiring men. How is that any different?
FOURNIER: The difference is right now we have a whole Republican Party that is spending a lot of money and a lot of time convincing the American public that this government is dominating them. So what he’s basically doing is putting a target on government officials.
DOMENECH: But is this government taking their guns?
FOURNIER: And I think that’s irresponsible of a presidential candidate.
DOMENECH: I don't think that's irresponsible at all. If this government really was to rise up and say that they were going to every household in America and take their guns away, you don't think that that's an opportunity for American’s to rise up?
MARCUS: Well, that’s not what he said.
FOURNIER: That’s not what the government’s doing.
DOMENECH: That’s not what he said.
MARCUS: He said if we have the wrong people in office.
FOURNIER: But he does say the government is dominating us and then in the next breath he says we should be able to–
DOMENECH: I do not think that is a call for arms.
