Ben Carson's campaign manager really wants him to stop referencing Hitler

(Image credit: The View on ABC/Youtube)

published 6 October 2015

When Whoopi Goldberg asked Ben Carson about his recent remark that Hitler "could happen here" in a Tuesday interview on The View, the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate didn't try to explain the remark away — he doubled down on it. First off, he clarified, he knew exactly what he was doing when made the comment. "I purposely said that because I knew the left wing would go crazy: 'He said Hitler!'" Carson said.

He then went on to explain that his invocation of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany was really just a way to remind people of what can happen if people don't stand up for what they believe in. "So what I said is most people in Nazi Germany did not believe in what Hitler was doing. But did they speak up? No. They kept their mouths shut," Carson said. "And when you do that, you are compromising your freedom and the freedom of people who come behind you. You have to be willing to stand up for what you believe in. I want people in America to stand up for what we believe in."

But no matter what Carson was trying to say, even his campaign manager thinks it's about time he finds a new example to illustrate his point. "It's an example [Carson] has been using for years," Carson's campaign manager Barry Bennett told ABC News, "and, to be honest with you, he needs to find a better example because the problem is as soon as you say Hitler, nobody hears anything else you say."