--- title: Ben Carson Gives More Hints at Presidential Bid description: "You know, I will never be a politician. I will tell you that right of the bat" canonical: https://time.com/3419531/ben-carson-hint-presidential-bid/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-23T00:23:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:40.657Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Gives More Hints at Presidential Bid og:description: "You know, I will never be a politician. I will tell you that right of the bat" og:url: https://time.com/3419531/ben-carson-hint-presidential-bid/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Gives More Hints at Presidential Bid twitter:description: "You know, I will never be a politician. I will tell you that right of the bat" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Ben Carson Gives More Hints at Presidential Bid by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 23, 2014 12:23 AM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 23, 2014 12:23 AM UTC Conservative firebrand Ben Carson said Monday that “the likelihood is strong” that he’ll run for president in 2016. The author and retired neurosurgeon told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would make up his mind before May of next year. “Unless the American people indicate in November that they like big government intervention in every part of their lives, I think the likelihood is strong,” Carson said. The untested figure would face an uphill battle reaching out to moderate Republicans and swing voters. Carson rose to the national prominence in 2013 when he eviscerated President Barack Obama’s tax policies and the Affordable Care Act while delivering remarks at the bipartisan National Prayer Breakfast. He has built a considerable following in conservative circles with a number of political action committees, including a new super PAC announced last week named “USA First.” Carson told Hewitt he believes he can hold his own in a Republican field likely to be dominated by more experienced politicians from Washington and statehouses across the country, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco rubio. ” I’ve been talking all of my life,” he said. “And I will continue to talk. You know, I will never be a politician. I will tell you that right of the bat.” Carson has won or finished near the top of several conservative straw polls, and a “National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee” has raised more than $7 million, though [much of the money](http://time.com/23001/conservatives-inc/) has found its way into the pockets of GOP operatives. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3419531/ben-carson-hint-presidential-bid/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3419531/ben-carson-hint-presidential-bid/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Gives More Hints at Presidential Bid","datePublished":"2014-09-23T00:23:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:40.657Z","description":"\"You know, I will never be a politician. I will tell you that right of the bat\"","url":"https://time.com/3419531/ben-carson-hint-presidential-bid/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3419531/ben-carson-hint-presidential-bid/","name":"Ben Carson Gives More Hints at Presidential Bid"}}]}] ```