Posted on 10/29/2015 6:34:59 PM PDT by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
In Wednesday's CNBC Republican presidential debate, Ben Carson was asked about his involvement with Mannatech, a dietary supplement maker.
In 2009, Mannatech settled for $7 million following a lawsuit brought by the Texas attorney general over the company's claims that its products could cure cancer and autism. CNBC moderator Carl Quintanilla claimed Carson had a 10-year-long connection with the company and that it continued even after the settlement.
Carson denied the accusation, saying, "That is total propaganda ... I did a couple speeches for them, I do speeches for other people, they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say that I had any kind of relationship with them."
Carson's statement directly contradicts promotional material that came from Mannatech, as well as his own business manager Armstrong Williams, who described Carson's relationship to the company in an interview Thursday on "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
Williams defended his boss, suggesting that while Carson did have a relationship to the company, the retired neurosurgeon didn't realize all of the details of his endorsement up front and wanted out of the deal.
"He said 'I don't believe in this. I'm not going to do it,'" Williams said, recalling negotiations with the company over the endorsement. "When that was over, he made it clear to me, 'You need to get me out of this, I'm not going to do this again,' and it was over.'"
The Wall Street Journal this month reported on Carson's connection with Mannatech, saying Carson has said he has taken the company's supplements for more than a decade.
The WSJ also cited a 2004 video of Carson speaking at a Mannatech event. In the video, he credited the company's products for his prostate cancer diagnosis symptoms disappearing. The paper points out that Carson is now "cancer-free after surgery."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Don’t click on it.
I couldn’t care an iota less about what you do on your own time. This is the REE Republic, not a communist controlled site.
And, I can go on other’s posts and say the same thing you are saying, but thank God I don’t do that.
Do you have links to these “infomercials” or do you mean just speeches?
I don’t see this playing well with the Evangelicals.
For what it’s worth I don’t think I would vote for Carson either after hearing about this. I mean, did he need the money that bad?
I did not have supplement relations with that workplace - Mannatech Lewinsky.
I try to be evenhanded in my criticism of candidates.
Carson is not a man I wish to serve as president.
That being said, the world of endorsement is a murky one.
Anyone thinking an endorser knows everything there is to know about a product, or even could realistically know, is not informed themselves.
You have agencies to provide lists of thing to endorse for a fee. They present them as upstanding companies. They and your people vet them. You think it’s okay. You endorse them.
You’re acting in good faith. You don’t know. All of a sudden one goes south, and it’s on your watch.
I do not fault Carson here. It is not evidence of him being a shady character.
IMO < this is gotcha politics. I’m not buying it.
Stick to his platform unless there is something very outlandish to discuss.
Talking to Republican voters in general BlackFemaleArmyCaptain, not you. = :^)
These paid “speeches” were videos played to thousands of people as an endorsement of the product. The logo of Mannatech is prominently displayed in the background.
There is a long list of reasons why I would never vote for Carson, but this was over the top as a character issue.
“I did not have supplement relations with that workplace - Mannatech Lewinsky.”
You’re reading my mind! LOL!
The biggest issue is not that he had a relationship with this company, it is that he denied it.
Listen again. He said he did something with them but that he did not authorize the picture and does not have involvement in the sense that he has anything to do with them.
It is not the same thing.
Does anyone have the transcript? As I remember it, Cruz said he did something with them but that he did not authorize the picture and has no ongoing involvement.
Verga, please be sure to start all of your posts with “I’m a Cruzer”, you know, for anyone who hasn’t figured it out yet.
Carson is fair game, just like everyone else.
People trash Trump all over the place.
Ah, okay, then you’ve touched on something that is fair game.
I will say that he may not have remembered it. I know that’s hard to believe, but I believe it can happen.
If he did something off color, I have no problem taking him to task for it. Carson is open to being vetting toughly, like anyone else.
Being in the video business, I have some idea of this. Just because you hire someone to be a star of your video, does not — in fact USUALLY does not — mean they have any involvement with the company represented.
He said he had no involvement with that company. Clearly the three paid infomercials he made for them says otherwise.Again, I ask you, are you paid per post or per hour to jump in threads and feign disgust at Dr. Carson? And, is it Trump, Cruz, or Jeb's campaign paying you?
What a stupid question to ask someone on Free Republic.
Only an idiot thinks there is anything worthwhile, here. What a stupid issue.
Listen again. He said he did something with them but that he did not authorize the picture and does not have involvement in the sense that he has anything to do with them.ConservativeJoy is a paid troll by either Cruz, Jeb, or Trump. You will never get anywhere with logic. She is paid by the post, I think, so in responding you are merely enabling her to make more money or prove her value to whomever is paying her.It is not the same thing.
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