Comrade Carson: GOP candidate pulled fake Stalin ‘quote’ from right-wing Facebook meme
Citing "anti-American" things Stalin said can be a good tactic when you’re losing in a US political campaign and need to red-bait, but not when the quote is wrong.
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson failed to do his homework during Saturday night’s debate when he closed with: “Joseph Stalin said if you want to bring America down, you have to undermine three things: Our spiritual life, our patriotism, and our morality.”
After several media outlets tried to verify the quote, it was eventually traced back to… a right-wing Facebook meme.
Meme that Carson's Stalin misquote came from #GOPDebatepic.twitter.com/GJZrQQq03n
— Colm McGlinchey (@ColmMcGlinchey) February 14, 2016
Twitter users were quick to question the authenticity of the quote.
I do not have to check to know that Stalin quote from Carson is made up.
— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) February 14, 2016
Carson uses fake Stalin quote about bringing down America in #GOPDebatehttps://t.co/wdACVzEMKKpic.twitter.com/TCgmLa1LqU
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 14, 2016
It wasn’t long before Carson’s mistake took a humorous turn, in true internet fashion.
— Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) February 14, 2016
"you know nothing of my work sir"#GOPDebate@Beschizzapic.twitter.com/jrsVrxiLeO
— darth™ (@darth) February 14, 2016
BEN CARSON: You know, Joseph Stalin once said, “10 years ago we had Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope"
— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) February 14, 2016
Carson's campaign staff, the ones who are left, have yet to respond to questions on the origin of the quote.
READ MORE: Ben Carson’s top aides, 20 staffers quit in latest campaign blow
Speaking to CBS after the debate, Carson praised his own performance, saying he had “real solutions to the problem and is not going to get distracted by all the garbage.”
After finishing well below the front-runners in the New Hampshire primary with a paltry 2.3 percent, Carson will be desperate to generate whatever support he can get, but he may want to stop sourcing his “facts” from Facebook.
