Ben Carson Bible Shames Ted Cruz

Carson cited the Book of Matthew to imply that Cruz is a false prophet.

Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Ben Carson warned Christians on Wednesday to beware Ted Cruz as a false prophet.

Well, Carson never quite said those words. But in an extraordinarily passive-aggressive press conference in Washington, DC, this afternoon, called “in response to deceptive Iowa caucus tactics,” Carson told reporters that voters should judge all candidates by the words of Jesus in the Book of Matthew, implicitly calling Cruz out for his involvement in an effort to mislead Iowa caucus voters into thinking Carson had dropped out of the race.

“I make no bones about the fact that I am a person of faith, and I believe it what it says in Matthew 7:20: ‘By their fruit you will know them,'” Carson told reporters. “You know people not by what they say, but by what they do.”

That line is actually the culmination of a longer verse about false prophets who turn out to be wolves:

“15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

But Carson also refused to say he was talking about Cruz.

“I didn’t say a word about Ted Cruz,” Carson told reporters, when asked if he was talking about Cruz. “What I said is what we need to be able to do is look at a person’s life, look at the way a person does things and the way a person treats other people, and make a judgment.”

Carson went on to say that Cruz had called him and apologized for his staff’s role in spreading the word on the night of the Iowa caucuses that Carson had dropped out of the race. In reality, Carson had not dropped out of the race—he had just left the state, and his campaign issued an odd statement saying he wanted to get a fresh change of clothes at home.

Carson also said Cruz told him that he knew nothing of the plans to spread false information. Carson challenged the senator from Texas to fire the staffer who was involved.

“Let me put it this way: When I discovered there were things in my campaign that I could not agree with, and after really doing an investigation, I made changes, and I think that’s what a good leader does,” Carson said. “If there are things that you don’t agree with, you have to make changes. Now, if he agrees with it, he doesn’t have to make changes. But it would be hypocritical, wouldn’t it, to go against your beliefs? If he agrees with it, no problem.”

Asked if he regretted telling reporters that he was leaving Iowa early, and thus sparking the rumors that he was dropping out, Carson denied saying that, even if his campaign did.

“I didn’t say it, so don’t blame me,” Carson told reporters, chuckling. “Is it okay after being on the road for almost three weeks to go home and get a fresh change of clothes? Or is that a problem? Does that make someone into an evil, horrible person?”

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate