DR. BEN CARSON FIRES BACK AT CRITICS: ‘SOMEBODY HAS TO BE COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO STAND UP TO THE BULLIES’

◼ Dr. Benjamin Carson won over conservatives when he railed against many of the big government policies endorsed by President Barack Obama during the National Prayer Breakfast last week, at which the president was in attendance. - Jason Howerton/The Blaze

However, the newly discovered conservative hero is also getting his first taste of criticism from the left who say his speech was inappropriate and even offensive. On Monday, he appeared on Fox News’ “Your World” with Neil Cavuto to respond to his critics.

“What we need to do is we need to be able to discuss intelligent ways of solving the multitude of problems that threatens to destroy our nation. And there are a group of people who would like to silence everybody and have everybody go along to get along, but that’s not going to be very helpful for us in the long run,” Carson said.

“Somebody has to be courageous enough to stand up to the bullies,” he added.

When asked why he took it upon himself to go “beyond medical policy” and address issues like tax policy, Carson went back to the Declaration of Independence to make his point.

“One of the things I also said during the speech, there will be some people who will say, but you’re a doctor and you’re a surgeon. You should be sticking to that,” Carson explained. “And I mentioned the fact that five physicians signed the Declaration of Independence and were involved in the framing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and several other things.”

He continued: “There’s absolutely no reason at all that physicians, scientists, shouldn’t be involved in things that affect all of us. We’re people who’ve learned how to make decisions based on facts, empirical data, rather than on ideology. And one of the geniuses — one of the real things that made us a great nation — is that we brought people from all backgrounds into the legislative process.”

◼ Bob Beckel v. Benjamin Carson - Jonah Goldberg/National Review Online

◼ What the GOP Can Learn from Dr. Benjamin Carson - Political Outcast