--- title: Ben Carson: Report on Childhood Is 'A Bunch of Lies' description: GOP presidential candidate fires back at CNN report canonical: https://time.com/4102899/ben-carson-childhood-bunch-of-lies/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-06T16:08:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:13.619Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Calls Report Questioning His Childhood 'A Bunch of Lies' og:description: The GOP presidential candidate fired back at a CNN report og:url: https://time.com/4102899/ben-carson-childhood-bunch-of-lies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc306fb1ad6e80558/69886fec0a4a22403f9c6ec3/ben-carson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: GOP Presidential Candidate Ben Carson Campaigns In Colorado Day After Party's Third Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Calls Report Questioning His Childhood 'A Bunch of Lies' twitter:description: The GOP presidential candidate fired back at a CNN report twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc306fb1ad6e80558/69886fec0a4a22403f9c6ec3/ben-carson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Calls Report Questioning His Childhood 'A Bunch of Lies' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3PLzGzLI.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-10-27. GOP Presidential Candidate Ben Carson retells his life story_ by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Nov 6, 2015 4:08 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks during a news conference before a campaign event at Colorado Christian University on October 29, 2015 in Lakewood, Colorado. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks during a news conference before a campaign event at Colorado Christian University on October 29, 2015 in Lakewood, Colorado. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Nov 6, 2015 4:08 PM UTC Republican presidential frontrunner Ben Carson is firing back at a [CNN report](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/05/politics/ben-carson-2016-childhood-violence/index.html) that brings up questions about his childhood in Detroit. The article, which Carson called “a bunch of lies” in a Friday [interview](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2015/11/06/ben-carson-intv-newday.cnn) with the news network, notes that several of Carson’s childhood friends were unable to recall a series of violent episodes that Carson describes in his autobiography. In his book _Gifted Hands_, Carson says he once struck another boy with a rock, attempted to hit his mother in a dispute over clothes and tried to stab a friend in the stomach with a knife. After speaking directly to God, Carson says he had a spiritual awakening that drastically changed his demeanor and gave him the ability to better control his anger. The narrative of transformation from an angry boy from inner-city Detroit to a world-renowned neurosurgeon has been a central component of Carson’s appeal. But in the CNN article, childhood friends didn’t remember the incidents and described him as “quiet, bookish and nerdy.” Carson has said that he won’t reveal the full names of the victims of his attacks out of respect for their privacy and accused CNN of using the report as a distraction from important issues. “This is a bunch of lies attempting to say I’m lying about my history,” Carson said on CNN. “I think it’s pathetic, and basically what the media does is they try to get you distracted with all of this stuff so that you don’t talk about the things that are important.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4102899/ben-carson-childhood-bunch-of-lies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4102899/ben-carson-childhood-bunch-of-lies/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Calls Report Questioning His Childhood 'A Bunch of Lies'","datePublished":"2015-11-06T16:08:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:13.619Z","description":"GOP presidential candidate fires back at CNN report","url":"https://time.com/4102899/ben-carson-childhood-bunch-of-lies/","keywords":["CNN","Childhood","Dr. Benjamin S. 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