--- title: Trump Skewers Carson About Claims in his Book description: You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that" canonical: https://time.com/4111443/trump-carson-child-molesting/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-13T14:01:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:35:28.364Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Skewers Carson About Claims in his Book og:description: You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that" og:url: https://time.com/4111443/trump-carson-child-molesting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2237e9bda9caf2f7/698870e73c16390c0b45ab0e/trump-attacks-carson-iowa-rally.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Skewers Carson in Iowa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Skewers Carson About Claims in his Book twitter:description: You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2237e9bda9caf2f7/698870e73c16390c0b45ab0e/trump-attacks-carson-iowa-rally.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Slams Carson's 'Pathological' Temper, Likens it to Child Molesting  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Nov 13, 2015 2:01 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Iowa on Nov. 12. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Iowa on Nov. 12.Charlie Neibergall—AP  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Nov 13, 2015 2:01 PM UTC Donald Trump took direct aim at his current main opponent Ben Carson, unleashing personal attacks about material in Carson’s memoir “Gifted Hands” twice on Thursday. Citing how Carson described his own temper as “pathological” at one point in the book, Trump said during [an interview on CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/12/politics/donald-trump-ben-carson-child-molester/index.html?sr=twCNN111315donald-trump-ben-carson-child-molester1222AMVODtopVideo&linkId=18718123), “That’s a big problem, because you don’t cure that.” Trump then added the example of something else he considered pathological: “Child molesting.” “You don’t cure these people. You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that,” he repeated. Trump lobbied the attack as Carson, the front-runner in Iowa, pulls ahead of him in some national polls. At a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump also called Carson out on his account of attempting to stab somebody, to have the knife blocked by the person’s belt buckle. “He took a knife and he went after a friend,” Trump [said](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/13/trump-asks-iowans-how-stupid-are-they-to-believe-carson/), according to the New York _Times_. “He lunged that knife into the stomach of his friend. But, lo and behold, it hit the belt. It hit the belt, and the knife broke. Give me a break.” He then demonstrated with his own belt why that would be improbable. “How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?” Trump then asked the crowd at the Iowa rally. \[[_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/13/trump-asks-iowans-how-stupid-are-they-to-believe-carson/?)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4111443/trump-carson-child-molesting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4111443/trump-carson-child-molesting/"},"headline":"Trump Slams Carson's 'Pathological' Temper, Likens it to Child Molesting","datePublished":"2015-11-13T14:01:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:35:28.364Z","description":"\"You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. 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