Carson weighs in on calls for ‘Hillary for prison’
CLEVELAND — Ben Carson on Wednesday didn’t say he subscribed to calls for Hillary Clinton to be sent to prison, but said “in the real world” she’d be reprimanded for her use of a private email server while secretary of State.
“In the real world, if somebody is extraordinarily irresponsible and is found to be lying about it in the corporate world, you don’t promote them, you send them to remedial training or you fire them or you demote them,” Carson told The Hill.
{mosads}”In this situation, we’re taking somebody who was first lady, who was a senator, who was secretary of State and then doesn’t even have either the judgment or the ability to figure out what is classified and what isn’t and how to protect that information and protect the American people,” he continued.
“And you want to say, ‘It’s OK, make her president.’ I think that’s just like being an ostrich and sticking your head in the sand,” he added.
A major theme that has emerged from the Republican National Convention this week has centered around the “Hillary for prison” meme.
Convention speakers have used the phrase, it’s appeared on T-shirts outside the convention complex and it’s been shouted at rallies supporting GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“Hillary for prison. She deserves to be in stripes,” Patricia Smith, the mother of one of the 2012 Benghazi attack victims, told Republicans on Monday.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who was a long-shot candidate to be Trump’s running mate, also led chants of “lock her up!” at the convention.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie engaged in a “prosecution” of Clinton on Tuesday, listing alleged misdeeds and asking the crowd if she was guilty or not guilty. “Guilty!” the crowd chanted in unison.
Carson spoke to reporters after delivering a speech at an event focused on civility in politics.
He downplayed a report in The New York Times that the Trump campaign offered former rival John Kasich the vice presidential spot with a promise to make the Ohio governor the “most powerful vice president in history.”
Kasich insisted throughout the GOP primary that he wasn’t interested in joining a Trump ticket and hasn’t endorsed the businessman, skipping the GOP convention this week.
“The vice presidential issue has already been settled, so it really is a non-issue,” Carson said, alluding to Trump’s pick of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence late last week.
“Donald Trump is not going to have a vice president who isn’t compatible with him and somebody who is going to work against him, so I don’t think that that’s a serious issue,” Carson added.
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