Ben Carson’s business partner and friend Armstrong Williams is disputing allegations that the presidential candidate fabricated a story about being offered a scholarship to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Williams, a contributor to The Hill, told CNN Friday the allegations are unfounded, saying Carson was always forthright about the fact that he never formally applied or was granted admission to West Point.
{mosads}“I can tell you this for a fact, Ben Carson has always been clear that he never applied,” Williams said on CNN’s “Wolf.”
The report by Politico on Friday cited a passage from Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” in which the retired neurosurgeon recalls meeting General William Westmoreland and being “offered a full scholarship to West Point.”
Politico said the Carson campaign had admitted the story was fabricated, after they received a statement from Carson’s campaign manager Barry Bennett that appeared to contradict the “full scholarship” claim.
“He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors,” Bennett said in the statement, referring to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. “They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission.”
Williams said “there was no fabrication” in the story, saying Carson was encouraged to attend the military academy in a meeting with Westmoreland and other top military personnel.
“They were honoring someone, and afterwards there was a meeting where they discussed the fact that he had very good grades as an ROTC person and he should apply to West Point, because all of us know that anybody who applies to the graduate program and is accepted is on automatic scholarship,” Williams said.
“It has been in his book, this was so long ago, all he knows is that he was encouraged to apply for the scholarship, to apply for admission to West Point. He never applied,” he added.
Williams said the report was sensationalized to draw attention to the story.
“Obviously sometimes people like to print headlines to get people to read, because as I said earlier if you read the article in its entirety, there’s clearly a contradiction for what Politico is alleging from what Carson’s campaign manager Barry Bennett actually said,” he said.
Carson’s campaign earlier Friday echoed Williams’s sentiments. “It’s completely B.S.,” said Carson Senior Strategist Ed Brookover.
West Point does not offer scholarships. Each student who attends the military academy receives free education.