Sanders: Media dives into Carson's past not fair game
Just as media scrutiny over Ben Carson's past intensifies, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is pushing back against the increasing chatter surrounding decades-old incidents.
When asked in a Sunday interview whether the investigations into Carson's personal history was "fair game," Sanders responded that they were not.
"No," he told NBC News' Chuck Todd. "Look, I listened to the interviews with Dr. Carson, and it's interesting. But you know what, Chuck? The American people want to know why the middle class of this country is disappearing, why we have 47 million people living in poverty, why we have massive income and wealth inequality."
Rather, Sanders would like to see more thorough vetting of the GOP candidate's stances on issues like energy and economic policy.
"When you look at Dr. Carson, to the best of my knowledge, this man does not believe that climate change is caused by human activity. This man wants to abolish Medicare, impacting tens of millions of seniors, and this man wants to give huge tax breaks to the rich," Sanders said.
"I think it might be a better idea -- I know it's a crazy idea -- but maybe we focus on the issues impacting the American people and what candidates are saying rather than just spending so much time exploring their lives of 30 or 40 years ago," he added.
On this topic, Carson -- who has come under fire in the last week for reported embellishments to his biography, including a psychology class he took at Yale University and a scholarship he said he received to West Point military academy -- seems to find common ground with Sanders.
The GOP contender told CBS' "Face the Nation" early Sunday that when it comes to the questions over his violent history, "the whole point is to distract the populace, distract me."
"If you've got a real scandal, if you've got something that's really important, let's talk abut that," Carson challenged.
The retired neurosurgeon also slammed the investigations as a progressive attack on his candidacy.
"I'm a threat," Carson told NBC News in another interview that aired Sunday. "To the progressives -- the secular progressive movement in this country. I'm a very big threat because they, you know, can look at the polling data and they can see that, you know, I'm the candidate who's most likely to be able to beat Hillary Clinton."
But at least one of Carson's Republican rivals has been quick to criticize the doctor: Donald Trump, who told "Face the Nation" that the reports about his fellow Republican's past are "tough stories."
"I just don't know what to think," the billionaire businessman said Sunday. "I hope it works out fine for Ben."
And earlier in the week, Trump hit Carson hard on social media: