Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson calls Ben Carson supporters 'ignorant lynch mob'

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga) sharply criticized a possible 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson on the "Michael Smerconish Program" SiriusXM 124 radio last Friday, accusing Carson of tapping into a "vein of ignorance" among his supporters to ea their approval. Johnson represents Georgia's fourth congressional district.

Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008. The African-American doctor first gained inteational attention in 1987 when he performed a surgery to separate craniopagus twins from Germany. It was the first successful surgery of this kind world-wide.  Since his retirement from medicine in 2013, Carson made several political speeches establishing himself as a possible presidential contender.  Even though the doctor doesn't align himself with any political party, his views are decidedly on the conservative side which draws passionate criticism from Democrats, especially those who are African-American.

The transcript of Johnson's statements on Smerconish's show reads as follows:

"I think Barack Obama has been one of the greatest presidents that we have had in the history of this nation. It's unfortunate that since he raised his hand and took the oath in his first inauguration that he's been met with nothing but opposition and confrontation and actual personal dehumanization… So I support the president, I believe he's done as much as humanly possible to advance the cause of justice and prosperity and freedom for all people, not just blacks. And not just here in America but across the world, I think he has changed the paradigm of American foreign policy.

"But it's unfortunate that everything he does tends to pick up opposition from his political enemies and it has become more than just political, it's personal enemies. So to the extent that we have African-Americans trying to tap into that vein of ignorance, African-Americans like Dr. Ben Carson, who is a very smart, well educated man and knows exactly what he's doing, when we have blacks like that trying to tap into that ignorance of people who have been whipped into a frenzy like a lynch mob and go to try to gaer support from those folks, I think it’s very disappointing that we would have that kind of political discourse going on in this country, appealing to the lowest common denominator.  There can be nothing more disappointing than that kind of thinking.

Clearly, Johnson does not even allow a possibility that openly religious Carson might simply support more conservative political principles, such as small govement and traditional marriage policies,  instead of being this manipulative, conniving genius who is trying to "tap into ignorance" of common people to achieve political gains.   Rep. Johnson is apparently convinced that no black man could possibly have conservative beliefs, completely disregarding the fact that many African-Americans just few decades ago voted in very large numbers for Republicans. While the two parties have certainly changed their platforms to some extent since then, the basic principles of less regulation and small central govement vs.  big central govement that regulates most aspects of the economy remain the same. 

Carson has been polling quite well among Republicans with a recent Iowa poll placing him close second to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and right before New Jersey Goveor Chris Christie (R) for the 2016 presidential election match-up.  During his recent appearance on ABC News "This Week" Carson said he'd make a decision about a presidential run before May 1^st 2015.