Carson: News Media 'Like Used Car Salesmen'

Ben Carson used a speech before the National Press Club on Friday to tell the national press what he really thinks of them. "You're down there with used car salesmen," he said, accusing the media of distorting his remarks on issues like the Oregon shooting, the Hill reports. He said journalists don't like him because he's "not politically correct" and they are trying to wreck his presidential campaign by taking comments out of context and misrepresenting him, reports Politico, which notes that a 2014 Gallup poll found that 24% of Americans rated journalists' honesty and ethics "high" or "very high," which was below most professions, but ahead of used car salesman, who scored just 8%.

Carson, who counts Rupert Murdoch among his supporters, told reporters that if they are called out on their hypocrisies, hopefully "some of them will recognize it’s almost a sacred obligation they have to the people, to be honest," per the Hill. He said some of his remarks had been misrepresented, but doubled down on his comments linking the Holocaust to gun control, the BBC reports, which notes that his remarks have been condemned by groups including the Anti-Defamation League. "Basically, what I said is when tyranny occurs traditionally around the world, they try to disarm the people first," he said. (More Ben Carson stories.)