Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has revealed he linked Hillary Clinton to liberal radical Saul Alinsky, who once praised Lucifer in a book, to provide "perspective" on what type of president the Democrat would be if elected.
The former neurosurgeon was mocked by many in the secular media when, during a speech delivered at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, he argued that Alinsky's teachings matter given his influence in Clinton's life.
"Her senior thesis was about Saul Alinksy, this was someone that she greatly admired and that affected all of her philosophies subsequently. Now interestingly enough, let me tell you about Saul Alinksy. He wrote a book called 'Rules for Radicals,'" said Carson.
"On the dedication page it acknowledges Lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom. Now think about that, this is a nation where our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, talks about certain inalienable rights that come from our creator. This is a nation where our Pledge of Allegiance says we are 'One Nation Under God," he continued.
"This is a nation where every coin in our pocket and every bill in our wallet says 'In God We Trust.' So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that."
Carson also warned that God will "remove himself" from the United States if we allow the "secular progressive agenda" to take Him out of our lives: "We will not be blessed and our nation will go down the tubes and we will be responsible for that. We don't want that to happen," he said.
After coming under fire for his comments, Carson explained that he was simply offering Americans a glimpse of what type of president Clinton would be.
"Recognize that this is a very famous book -- 'Rules for Radicals' -- and on the dedication page, you acknowledge Lucifer in an admirable way saying he's the original radical who gained his own kingdom," Carson told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day." "What I am saying is that we are talking about electing to the presidency an individual who embraces someone who obviously is not someone who is consistent."
He added, "She believed that at that time. And now you look at her actions. You look at what she advocates ... those are pretty consistent, quite frankly. We all have people who are our mentors. We all have people that we admired as a college student. At Wellesley, she was on a first name basis with Saul Alinsky. He offered her a job after she finished, but she decided to go to law school. They were very close."
The former neurosurgeon further defended his statements in a Facebook post shared on Wednesday, vowing to "continue to talk about "Clinton's admiration for Saul Alinsky, her secular progressive values, and her commitment to activist judges who share those values" regardless of attacks from the media.
"We must remember that 2016 is not just about who will sit in the Oval Office for the next 4 years, but who will sit on the Supreme Court for the next several decades," he wrote. "Together, let's keep this issue front and center."
