Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump said in an interview Thursday that
rival Ben Carson has a 'pathological temper' that can't be cured any
more than a child molester can be cured.
In
Iowa he continued the strong criticism, telling people at a rally that
he didn't believe Carson's story of his religious awakening and
questioned his tale of nearly stabbing a friend.
'How stupid are the people of Iowa?' Trump bellowed during a rally at Iowa Central Community College.
'How stupid are the people of this country to believe this crap?
In an interview with CNN, the businessman pointed to Carson's own descriptions of his 'pathological temper" as a young man.
'That's a big problem because you don't cure that,' Trump said.
'That's
like, you know, I could say, they say you don't cure — as an example,
child molester. You don't cure these people. You don't cure the child
molester.'
Trump also said that 'pathological is a very serious disease.'
CNN's
Erin Burnett asked Trump if he was satisfied by Carson's assurances
that his anger was in the past, and Trump said he didn't know.
'You'll have to ask him that question,' he said according to a CNN report on the interview.
'Look, I hope he's fine because I think it would be a shame.'
Asked for comment on Trump's remarks about Carson's temper, a spokesman for Carson's campaign said it had no comment.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson described the uncontrollable anger he felt at times while growing up in inner-city Detroit.
He wrote that on one occasion he nearly punched his mother and on another he attempted to stab a friend with a knife.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson (above on Wednesday) writes of trying
to stab a boy with a knife because of his temper, but hitting his belt
buckle
'I
had what I only can label a pathological temper — a disease — and this
sickness controlled me, making me totally irrational,' Carson said in
describing the incident with his mother.
He
referred to 'pathological anger' again in telling about lunging at his
friend, the knife blade breaking off when it hit the boy's belt buckle.
Carson's
ability to overcome his anger as well as an impoverished childhood to
become a world-renowned neurosurgeon has been a central chapter in his
personal story.
During the
rally Thursday night in Fort Dodge, Trump told the crowd that 'Carson's
an enigma to me' and questioned story after story in Carson's
biography.
He
acted out the scene of Carson trying to stab his friend, lurching
forward and shouting, 'but, low and behold, it hit the belt!'
Carson
describes in Gifted Hands racing to the bathroom in his house after the
near-stabbing incident and in time began to pray for God's help in
dealing with his temper.
'During those hours alone in the bathroom, something happened to me,' he wrote.
'God
heard my deep cries of anguish. A feeling of lightness flowed over me,
and I knew a change of heart had taken place. I felt different. I was
different.'
In
questioning Carson's religious awakening, Trump said in Fort Dodge that
Carson went into the bathroom and came out and 'now he's religious.'
'And the people of Iowa believe him. Give me a break. Give me a break. It doesn't happen that way,' he said.
'Don't be fools.'
Carly Fiorina joined the fray soon after, posting a message on Facebook attacking Trump.
'Donald, sorry, I've got to interrupt again,' she wrote, mocking the comment he made to her a Tuesday's Republican debate.
'You would know something about pathological. How was that meeting with Putin? Or Wharton? Or your self funded campaign?
'Anyone
can turn a multi-million dollar inheritance into more money, but all
the money in the world won't make you as smart as Ben Carson.'
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