The Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon who made headlines recently by pointing out the flaws of Obamacare to President Barack Obama’s face announced Monday on “Your World with Neil Cavuto” that he is retiring from surgery in June, which he admitted “does open up a lot of opportunities” — including potentially a run for political office.
Dr. Benjamin Carson became an overnight political celebrity after he delivered a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, excoriating federal budget excesses and offering his own solutions to the country’s health-care problems as President Obama sat merely a few feet away. (RELATED VIDEO — Carson rips Obamacare with president in the audience)
When host Neil Cavuto suggested Carson consider running for president himself, the internationally renowned doctor left the door wide open.
“If I had a nickel for everybody who told me that, I could finance my own campaign,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve always said that if God grabs me by the collar and sticks me in that arena, that’s the only way I’ll do it.”
Carson, who said he plans to go into teaching and remain in the medical field following his retirement from surgery, also shot back at critics who say he isn’t qualified to talk politics.
“One of the real things that made us a great nation is that we brought people from all backgrounds into the legislative process. … And no one ever says to a lawyer, ‘Why are you getting involved in this and that and the other?’ I don’t see why they would say it to a physician. We have more education than anyone else in society.”
Asked about his remarks at the prayer breakfast, Carson reiterated that President Obama’s leadership has taken the country down the wrong path.
“There’s no question that [President Obama] has advocated, you know, basically a policy of ‘tax the rich.’ I have advocated a policy that comes from the Bible, which is a very fair policy of proportional taxation. If it was good enough for God, why wouldn’t it be good enough for us? The minute you deviate away from that, you begin to get into all kinds of biases.”