The retired neurosurgeon once best known for separating conjoined baby twins, announced on Monday, May 4 that he will pursue the Republican nomination for U.S. president. Carson is now known as a culture warrior whose criticisms of President Obama have made him a favourite of conservatives.
“I’m Ben Carson, and I’m a candidate for president of the United States,” he told a crowd in his home town of Detroit on Monday, making his presidential bid official to wild applause.
In a speech to a crowd that his campaign estimated at thousands, the retired neurosurgeon and unlikely conservative star introduced his wife and family and called for “the people to rise up and take the government back.” Carson told the story of his rise from poverty, where he lived in homes infested with roaches — “in the more upscale areas, they called ‘em waterbugs, but we knew what they were” he joked — and promised that he wouldn’t change his signature style, framing himself as an outsider up against the political elite.
“I’m probably never going to be politically correct because I’m not a politician,” he said. “I don’t want to be a politician. Because politicians do what is politically expedient — I want to do what’s right.”
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