Ben Carson: White House Repeatedly Asked for an Advance Copy of My Speech

Editor's note: Dr. Carson will be on the Glenn Beck TV program Thursday night at 5pm ET. You can watch here.

--

Getty Images

Dr. Ben Carson rebuffed multiple requests from the White House for an advance copy of his speech for the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this month, a speech in which he criticized President Barack Obama sitting just a few feet away.

Carson told The Hill he told the White House no, because he doesn't put his remarks on paper beforehand.

“I told them that I don’t have an advance copy because I don’t write out my speeches and I don’t use teleprompters …they asked more than once ... I gave them the [Biblical] texts around which the remarks would be framed ... I said read those texts, the remarks will be framed around those ... that should have told them something,” Carson told The Hill.

The White House didn't comment on Carson's disclosure.

Carson, who staked out positions opposite Obama on taxes, debt and health care, told TheBlaze earlier this month that the president approached him after the speech and thanked him for his words.

The often verbose Vice President Joe Biden, Carson told The Hill, had little to say to him when he sat back down next to him.

“Later on, [Biden] said, ‘Nice being with you,’ ” Carson said.

The retiring pediatric neurosurgeon, who has been besieged by requests to run for political office, will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month.

--

​Related:

• Dr. Ben Carson Responds to Questions About Potential Political Future: ‘I’ll Leave That Up to God’
• ‘It’s Not American to Bite Your Tongue’: Frank Luntz Focus Group Lauds Ben Carson’s Speech
• Dr. Carson Tells TheBlaze How Obama Reacted to His Bold Prayer Breakfast Speech: ‘I Figured He Would Just Be Fuming’