Speaking ahead of Super Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson warned that Americans "have to wake up" to avoid a general election campaign between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump -- a situation he described as "horrible."
At the National Religious Broadcasters "Proclaim 16" convention in Nashville, Tennessee last week, the former neurosurgeon stressed that Americans need to elect a president with a track record of accomplishments -- not just a loud voice.
"[Voters] have to recognize that strength is not determined by the volume with which you say something, but is really determined by the life that you have led," Carson said. "And we need a very strong president who has led a life that demonstrates the ability to put together complex teams, to accomplish things that have never been done before. But you don't have to yell about it, you just have to do it."
Carson, who led Republican polls in November, is now placed far below front runner Trump and other GOP candidates, including Cruz and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
Despite his low numbers, Carson told attendees at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center that he has no plans to suspend his campaign, as "millions of people" have encouraged him to remain in the race.
"[A] couple of months ago I was at the top of the polls," he said. "Nothing has changed about my message. The only thing that changed was the secular progressives and the media started looking at the polls in the head-to-head against Hillary, and they realized I was way out ahead of her."
He added, "Two days ago we had our largest fundraising 24-hour period since the campaign began, so the people are saying stay in there...I would not have run had it not been for the people. But the same people who told me not to run are the people who are saying 'get out.' And the people who said do run are the one who are saying 'stay there.'"
In answering questions posed by forum moderator Eric Metaxas, well-known radio talk show host and author, Carson said that if elected president, he would select judicial appointees "who believe in life, not people who believe in death."
"And the way that you find that out is by looking at their lives," he said, referencing Matthew 7:16. "You look at all the fruit that they have borne."
The former neurosurgeon also had some harsh words for Planned Parenthood, an organization he said "should be defunded and should be dismantled."
"What they did with selling of body parts and dismembering fetuses I believe is criminal activity," he said. "I believe those people should be in prison and we should be doing everything we can to make sure that we don't encourage that."
The annual NRB convention boasted about 200 Christian media outlets and numerous notable speakers.
In addition to Carson, other speakers at the multiday NRB event included actress and producer Roma Downey, Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren, Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham, Fox News contributor Todd Starnes, and former Iraqi-based Anglican clergyman Canon Andrew White.
