October 30, 2015

On Wednesday night's CNBC Debate, Ben Carson basically called Carl Quintanilla, the CNBC moderator a liar because he quizzed him on his relationship with Mannatech, a company that's been sued for false advertising. Carson shouted from the heavens that he had NO relationship with them and that CNBC was using propaganda against him. .

"Well, that’s easy to answer: I didn’t have an involvement with them," replied Carson, a former pediatric neurosurgeon. "That is total propaganda. And this is what happens in our society -- total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people. They were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say that I had any kind of relationship with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it’s a good product."

As Carson was pressed on his relationship with Mannatech, the audience booed Quintanilla for daring to question the neurosurgeon on it. Well, yesterday on CNN Jake Tapper interviewed Armstrong WIlliams, Carson's business manager and he admitted that Carson did have a relationship with the supplement company because he negotiated the contract with them.

Dr. Ben Carson's business manager acknowledged Thursday that the Republican presidential candidate did have a "contract" with a medical supplement company at some point.

Armstrong Williams told CNN's Jake Tapper that he negotiated the retired neurosurgeon's contract himself.

Yet Williams told Tapper on "The Lead" that he thought it was fair for Quintanilla to ask Carson about his ties to the company. He argued that Carson wasn't involved hammering out the details of his speeches or testimonials for the company, though.

"Nothing is ever what it appears to be," he said. "What is good about this is that I actually negotiated the contract as his business manager."

--

Tapper pressed Williams to clarify the nature of Carson's ties to Mannatech.

"That does seem to suggest there was some relationship," the CNN anchor said. "It's over now, but there was some relationship at some point."

Williams didn't answer the question directly.

In the real world a lie like this would finish off a candidate running for president, but who knows what will happen in the GOP presidential primary.

Dr. Carson is using the Mannatech line of questioning by CNN, which he describes as "gotcha questions,' to try and get the rest of the Republican candidates to take over the rest of the GOP debates and force them to do what they want.
Screaming fire from a burning building is a crime when there is no fire, Ben.

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