As the focus of the 2016 race turns to presidential candidate Ben Carson’s biography, a super PAC supporting the former neurosurgeon is working to track down and interview some of the Republican’s former patients for possible television advertisements.
In a Sunday evening email with the subject “Are you a former patient of Dr. Carson?” to supporters, John Philip Sousa IV of The 2016 Committee wrote: “If you are a former patient of Ben Carson and are willing to appear in an ad and/or video promoting his candidacy, please respond immediately.”
“The liberal media and powerful political establishment are doing everything they can to undermine Dr. Carson’s integrity,” Sousa wrote. “They take innocent comments and misrepresent or misinterpret them; then claim Ben Carson isn’t honest. It’s preposterous. But we’re committed to staying positive and telling America about the ways Dr. Carson has saved lives.”
Sousa told the supporters the super PAC has hired Phil Cooke of Cooke Pictures and Tony Marsh of Savannah Communications to produce the videos. “Tony and Phil want to create some ads and videos that feature former patients of Dr. Ben Carson,” he wrote.
“Ben Carson has been standing up for you,” Sousa added. “There is no time to waste. This is your chance to stand up for Ben Carson.”
Super PACs like The 2016 Committee can’t coordinate with campaigns under the law but can run ads in support of candidates.
Last week, several stories surfaced in the media questioning Carson’s tales about his childhood in Detroit.
CNN ran a report saying they couldn’t find childhood friends to corroborate Carson’s story of how he once tried to stab someone as a troubled youth.
Politico then provoked a firestorm Friday with a piece claiming Carson had admitted to fabricating a story about how he was once offered admission to West Point. After protests, Politico edited its story, retracting its assertion that Carson admitted to fabricating the story. But the report still raised questions about whether Carson embellished what appears to have been an informal offer to attend West Point.
Carson has never run for office before. But he and businessman Donald Trump are neck and neck in national polls and in Iowa. (RELATED: Team Carson: ‘Politico Story Is An Outright Lie’