Ben Carson addresses questions about his biography: ‘I’m an honest person’

At the GOP debate here on Tuesday night, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson defended himself against a series of reports that have raised questions about his personal story.“I’m an honest person,” Carson declared. As Carson has climbed in the polls, a number of reports have highlighted inconsistencies in the claims that the former neurosurgeon has made about himself.  Those articles included a CNN piece that reported that “nine friends, classmates and neighbors” of Carson when he was a youth had “no memory” of the angry and violent incidents that Carson has described. Carson’s stories include one situation in which he said that he had attempted to stab a friend, only to have the knife blocked by the friend’s belt buckle. These angry moments have been incorporated into a narrative of personal redemption that Carson has used on the campaign trail. Doubts have also been raised about Carson’s claim that he was offered a full scholarship to the United States Military Academy at West Point.