UPDATE: A spokesman said that Carson, who previously ran for president, doesn’t want to be a Cabinet minister because he “feels he has no government experience” and wouldn’t want to “take a position that could cripple the presidency.”
Former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, according to several reports, is under consideration for the position of secretary of education in President-elect Trump’s White House.
Carson has had a successful career as a neurosurgeon and has an inspiring backstory—one that Trump repeatedly questioned, attacked and mocked during the presidential primaries, including issuing his infamous “stabbing challenge”—but his proposals and ideas may raise questions as to whether he is quite the right person to be put in charge of the Department of Education.
Here are just five reasons to worry about Carson becoming secretary of education:
1) Promised To Root Out ‘Political Bias’ And ‘Anti-American’ Sentiment in Schools, Houses Of Worship
During his presidential campaign, Carson said that if elected he would “change the function of the Department of Education” to have it “monitor institutions of higher education for political bias and withhold federal funding if it exists.”
He told The Des Moines Register that the government should send people to “surreptitiously” monitor “classrooms and libraries” to root out political bias, which he claims primarily comes from the left.
Carson also said he supports the government “monitoring a mosque or any church or any organization or any school or any press corps where there was a lot of radicalization and things that were anti-American.”
Carson pledged that he would work “very hard on eliminating the ban on Christianity in our public schools,” despite the fact that such a ban does not exist.
2) Denies Evolution
If Carson were to be nominated and confirmed, the Department of Education would be led by an outspoken denier of one of the foundations of modern biology: the theory of evolution.
Carson has railed against the theory of evolution, calling it a sign of humanity’s arrogance and the work of Satan, and has insisted that the earth was created in six literal days.
In one speech, Carson linked evolution to cannibalism and “scientific political correctness,” while also raising doubts about the fossil record and saying that evolution can’t be true because “no one has ever demonstrated one species changing to another species.”
Back in 2014, he said people who believe in evolution are “like Lucifer” because they reject God and the Bible and think of themselves as God, and also “dismiss ethics,” have no sense of morality and “have no reason for things such as selfless love.”
Back in 2014, he said people who believe in evolution are “like Lucifer” because they reject God and the Bible and think of themselves as God, and also “dismiss ethics,” have no sense of morality and “have no reason for things such as selfless love.”
3) Attacks Basic Science
Along with attacking the theory of evolution, Carson has dismissed the Big Bang as “ridiculous” and a “fairy tale.”
Carson also rejects the science behind climate change and recommended that doctors cut down on and delay vaccinations, which experts warn could lead to outbreaks of preventable diseases.
But don’t be alarmed: God once gave Carson every answer to a chemistry exam in a dream.
4) Promotes Bogus History
Carson has repeatedly used fake quotes from famous historical figures to justify his own political views. Not only that, but a book he wrote in 2012 was found to have been heavily plagiarized from conservative writers such as Bill Federer and Cleon Skousen, along with a website called SocialismSucks.net.
When defending his decision to run for president despite having no political experience, Carson wrongly wrote on his Facebook page that “every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience,” only to then edit his claim to say he was referring only to “federal elected office experience,” despite the fact there were no federal elected office positions in the colonial era.
He also famously claimed that “Joseph built the pyramids” of Egypt in order “to store grain.”
5) Opposes LGBT Equality
Under the Obama administration, the Department of Education has been a leader in ensuring that schools protect LGBT students from bullying and discrimination.
Carson, however, has a very different record on LGBT issues.
He has said that prison rape proves that being gay is a choice, referred to LGBT people as “abnormal,” mocked and denounced transgender people and suggested that the LGBT rights movement is part of a communist, anti-American conspiracy.
Carson also signed a National Organization for Marriage pledge to “prevent the promotion of a redefined version of marriage in public schools and other government entities.”
