Ben Carson Defends Claim He Was Offered Scholarship to West Point

After weeks of rising as a Republican candidate for president, Ben Carson on Friday found himself in the unusual position of playing defense, contending that a report saying he exaggerated a piece of his impressive résumé was itself an exaggeration.

Speaking to reporters in Florida, where he has been on a book tour this week, an uncharacteristically animated Carson accused Politico of telling “a baldfaced lie” in reporting he had walked back his claim of receiving a scholarship to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after the publication questioned the lack of evidence for it. “I never said I got a scholarship,” Carson said. Questioned about whether he had mischaracterized his dealings, Carson added, “I'm not going to say it is a mistake, so forget about it.”