Thread: Ben Carson's Top Two Aides Resign

Ben Carson's Top Two Aides Resign

• By KATHERINE FAULDERS

Dec 31, 2015, 12:44 PM ET

David Goldman/AP Photo

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks during a campaign event at Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta, Dec. 8, 2015.Two top aides to Ben Carson announced today that they are resigning from the Republican presidential candidate's campaign.

Campaign manager Barry Bennett and Communications Director Doug Watts "have resigned from the Carson campaign effective immediately."

"We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status," Communications Director, Doug Watts told ABC News Thursday. "Having just announced raising $23m for the 4th Q, more than any other Republican candidate, and passing 1 million contributions and and over 600k unique donors since March, we are proud of our efforts for Dr. Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ben-c...ry?id=36031944

Campaign aids seem to come and go. Some resign and others are fired. It would be interesting to know why they felt the need to resign though. Could be they were forced to resign before they were fired. That tends to happen too. Resigning always looking better on your resume.

Ben Carson's campaign descends into complete turmoil as two top aides abruptly resign

REUTERS/Mike Blake

Ben Carson.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson's presidential campaign just lost two of its most senior staffers.Carson's former communications director, Doug Watts, told Business Insider that both he and campaign manager Barry Bennett left Carson's team ahead of the new year.

"Barry Bennett and I have resigned from the Carson campaign effective immediately," Watts wrote in an email.

The Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs reported that her sources said the two senior aides quit amid tensions with Carson's business manager, Armstrong Williams. Williams frequently acts as an official surrogate for the Republican candidate.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post's Robert Costa spoke to Bennett, who said that his "frustration level has peaked with Dr. Carson's outside advisers."

"Lots of other people are resigning," Bennett told The Post.

Immediately after the news broke, the upper levels of the Carson campaign were left in apparent "chaos":

The two high-profile resignations come despite a strong fundraising report that the Carson campaign announced Wednesday: a $23 million haul in the fourth quarter of 2015. Watts referenced that report in his statement to Business Insider.

"We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status," Watts wrote while touting the numbers.

"We are proud of our efforts for Dr. Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck," he added.

Carson surged in the Republican-primary polls earlier this year and even challenged real-estate mogul Donald Trump's front-runner status in October, especially in Iowa. However, Carson's position has declined in recent weeks amid questions about Carson's foreign-policy knowledge and campaign infighting.

CNN reported a bit over two weeks ago that Carson's campaign was in "crisis" as Williams and the official campaign team were publicly criticizing each other for dragging down their candidate. At the time, Watts told Business Insider that the campaign was not in "chaos."

However, Carson said last week that he planned to shake up his senior campaign staff, but then appeared to backtrack. Costa reported that Carson got "cold feet" and Bennett nevertheless felt "burned" by the incident.

He also reported that the Carson team will announce a new campaign manager — Bob Dees, a retired US Army major general who has advised Carson on foreign policy and national security — at a Monday press conference.

"Doctor Carson remains in charge. We will have new campaign leadership for him," Williams told The Post.

Business Insider reached out to Williams for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ben-c...-quits-2015-12

The Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs reported that her sources said the two senior aides quit amid tensions with Carson's business manager, Armstrong Williams.

There you go. Guess we now know the reason.

Carson staffers quit, question his readiness for White House

7 minutes ago • By BILL BARROW and THOMAS BEAUMONT




FILE -- In this Dec. 23, 2015 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks in his home in Upperco, Md. Two of Carson’s top paid advisers are leaving the campaign with only a month to go before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. That’s according to Carson’s Iowa director, Ryan Rhodes. He says Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett and senior campaign spokesman Doug Watts are “out” as of Thursday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)


DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The two top aides to Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson resigned on Thursday, citing frustration with the influence of the retired neurosurgeon's business manager and questioning his readiness for the White House.

Barry Bennett and Doug Watts, both seasoned political operatives, stepped down with less than five weeks before voters in Iowa begin the nominating process with the state's Feb. 1 caucuses.

Bennett was Carson's campaign manager. Watts was communications director. But Bennett said Carson's longtime business manager, Armstrong Williams, is the adviser who has Carson's ear, even though Williams does not have a formal role in the campaign.

Carson is "one of the smartest men I've ever worked for," Bennett said, but added that he believes Carson has become Williams' "script reader."

Bennett said that made it difficult to advise Carson and raised questions in his mind about what kind of president Carson would make if elected.

"You have to surround yourself with good people," Bennett said. "And he hasn't demonstrated that he can do that. No one wants Armstrong Williams anywhere near the Oval Office."

Williams replied Thursday: "Barry and I agree. I will be nowhere near the Oval Office when Dr. Carson is elected president. I will remain in my private practice."

Williams also disputed Bennett's characterization that his influence is inappropriate.

"I don't think any one person should have the candidate's ear," Williams said. "I think he should listen to a multitude of advisers, inside the campaign and outside the campaign."

Carson's campaign released a statement Thursday describing staff changes as "enhancements" that "will shift the campaign into higher gear." Retired Army Major Gen. Robert Dees, who has been advising Carson on foreign policy and military affairs, will serve as campaign chairman. Ed Brookover, formerly a senior strategist, will serve as campaign manager.

The staff turmoil at the highest reaches of the Carson campaign is the latest setback for his presidential bid, which displayed significant fundraising power this summer and for a brief time was atop some preference polls.

But as quickly as Carson rose to the top of the GOP field, he began to falter. Bennett says Williams led Carson into multiple mistakes, particularly in the last two months as Carson struggled to establish foreign policy credentials amid increased voter concerns about national security.

Bennett and Watts' decision to leave the campaign came a week after Carson told The Associated Press in an interview that he was considering a major staff shakeup, only to walk back those comments hours later, declaring that he had "full confidence" in his team.

Williams arranged for that interview without Bennett's knowledge. Carson's subsequent statement of support for his team was issued after discussing his initial comments with Bennett and Watts, but Bennett said Thursday that those events were evidence his place in the campaign had become untenable.

Carson "told everybody else 'nobody wants staff changes,'" Bennett recalled. "Why the hell did you say it then? Armstrong had given him the talking points."

The interview "was Armstrong's calculation against us," Bennett said. "Ben was just the script reader. It was horribly embarrassing to us, the whole campaign staff.

One hundred fifty people went home for Christmas with their families wondering whether they would keep their jobs. Excellent timing."

Bennett described Carson as "surprised" by the resignations. Williams, who says he spoke with Carson after the candidate spoke with Bennett, described Carson as "calm, confident, reassured and ready to move forward."

"This allows Dr. Carson a fresh start," Williams said.

Williams said he spoke with Dees, the new campaign chairman, on Thursday and described their relationship as "wonderful."

"I've spoken with the good general, congratulated him," Williams said. "We've been with Dr. Carson since the beginning of this operation."

http://www.stltoday.com/news/nationa...84eb60f97.html

. . . Later Thursday, Deputy Campaign Manager Lisa Cohen told the Register that she has resigned because of Bennett and Watts' departures. "I am deeply concerned about the campaign's ability to move forward successfully without them," Coen said. She said she wishes Carson "all the best going forward." . . .

Campaign shake-up: Three top aides for Ben Carson resign

​ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...sign/78131924/

Republican Ben Carson's campaign manager, 20 staff quit

Reuters

- ‎5 minutes ago‎

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON
U.S. Republican Ben Carson's 2016 presidential bid was thrown into chaos on Thursday when his campaign manager and some 20 other staff members quit amid infighting, dropping poll numbers and negative media coverage...

Shame, you hate to see that. Carson's a nice guy and deserved better than that. Maybe Carson will withdraw and ask his supporters to go with Trump ....... that would be a nice 10 to 11% bump!

How about it Ben? Good idea??!!

GO TRUMP!!