Dr. Ben Carson was blunt about his past as a Democrat on “State of the Union” Sunday, saying, “I make no bones about the fact that I used to be a Democrat, I used to be a pretty left-wing Democrat in fact.”
Carson, when asked to defend his pro-life stance from 1992 remarked, “Over the course of time, my views have changed very dramatically. In 1992, I personally was against abortion, but I was not for causing anybody else to do anything. I was pro-choice in that region. I have changed.”
Jim Acosta: Dr. Carson, one of the issues that you are passionate about is the issue of abortion and pro-life views. I want to ask you about something that occurred back in Maryland in 1992, you became involved in a political campaign, and you were on the pro-life side of a ballot measure, but then joined the pro-choice or anti-abortion, and excuse me, pro-abortion forces at a press conference to denounce that very same ad, let’s take a look at this ad, I want to get your explanation about it.
News Anchor: First, he asked voters to vote against the abortion referendum, and now, renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson regrets that.
Ben Carson: My message is not to vote for or against question 6, but to educate yourself.
Acosta: Obviously, some of the adversaries out there are bringing it to light in part, because they want to get to the bottom of where you stand on this, or where you stood on this back in 1992, and can you clarify what is going on there during that abortion question that was on the ballot in Maryland in 1992?
Carson: I make no bones about the fact that I used to be a Democrat, I used to be a pretty left-wing Democrat in fact. Over the course of time, my views have changed very dramatically. In 1992, I personally was against abortion, but I was not for causing anybody else to do anything. I was pro-choice in that region. I have changed, because I have learned a lot of things, and I began to think if abolitionists a long time ago said that I don’t believe in slavery, but anybody else can do it if they want to, where would we be today? So that changed my opinion of a lot of things.