Carson campaign smacks back 'safe negro' comment

Ben Carson

Ben Carson's campaign has come out swinging against an MSNBC guest who called the former neurosurgeon and presidential hopeful a "safe negro" who was only winning in the polls because of the color of his skin and his opposition to President Obama.

Barry Bennett, campaign manager, said to Breitbart News: "I think if a Republican had said similar things about Barack Obama, they would probably be under investigation."

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Bennett was referring to Democratic strategist and Brooklyn NAACP chapter president L. Joy Williams, who said during a recent MSNBC appearance, as WND previously reported: "So one, you're right, Dr. Carson's story is one in which those who knew him before hand, which I am among them, knew of his inspirational story. It was something he communicated all the time. But you mentioned something really important. The really important thing of people supporting him because it's 'Oh, there's another black man commenting or, negatively against the president and I don't feel comfortable in doing so, ... because of the race factor.' So here's someone who can do it."

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She then said Carson's doing well in the polls because he is a "safe negro."

Now she's backtracking.

In an email to Breitbart News, Williams said: "I did not call him a 'safe negro.' In responding to the GOP panel member's comment about Dr. Carson criticizing the president ... I said that he is perceived that way by some of his supporters. That is evident even among those who are critical of my comment and sending messages to me about it. They believe Dr. Carson is 'not like the rest of you blacks' (a direct quote of a message I received). If one subscribes to this thought, they believe that the default for blacks is one of degradation, violence and poverty. The point I made is that there are those who support him because of this thought process."

See what Ben Carson believes about the United States, in his bestseller, "America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great."

Williams also said she agrees a lot of people who support Carson do so because of his inspirational story of faith.

"When we began the segment, I said I believed that most of his supporters were attracted to his faith and his inspirational story," she said. "This I truly believe."

Carson has faced some concerted fire for his conservative views. As Breitbart noted, PBS host Tavis Smiley previously called the presidential candidate a "black bull in a Republican china shop." And a religious studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Anthea Butler, said Carson ought to get the "coon of the year" award.