Ben Carson Casually Asserts That Walter Cronkite Was a ‘Radical, Left-Wing’ Journalist

During an interview on Monday morning’s New Day, former GOP candidate and vocal Trump supporter Ben Carson took time out of his conversation about Donald Trump to offer a editorial of sorts about the late legendary journalist and news anchor Walter Cronkite. Despite having earned the moniker, “the most trusted man in America,” following his decades of news coverage for CBS News, Carson very casually opined that Cronkite’s personal ideologies skewed radically to the left — though admitted that you would have a hard time proving so.

Carson told CNN’s Chris Cuomo, “I remember growing up, I used to turn the TV on and see Walter Cronkite or somebody like that. And you could really trust them.” Carson, whose name has been floated as a potential VP pick for Trump, continued, “Even though Walter Cronkite was a left wing radical, you would never know that,” he said casually.

“Well that’s one description of Walter Cronkite, I can’t say that I share, but I take your point. Let’s move on…” Cuomo began to say. However, Cuomo abruptly doubled back to the Cronkite assertion, perhaps driven a little too far by Carson’s take on the news legend.

“You understand what I’m saying though, about Walter Cronkite,” Cuomo said, pushing back against the former Republican Presidential candidate. “I happened to know him. He was a mentor to me… He covered things from both perspectives, shading as he though appropriate. That’s the job, right?”

“What I said was actually complimentary!” Carson attempted to argue, indicating that despite Cronkite’s bias the late newsman did a good enough job masking his political favoritism and successfully speak to a nationwide audience.

“But he wasn’t a radical, left-wing person,” clarified Cuomo. “The compliment should be offered plainly, which was: he did the job the right way,” continued the CNN anchor about his late mentor, which Carson agreed to meet him half-way on.

The story here is the bias of the late Walter Cronkite being called into question by Ben Carson. And that’s the way it is.

Watch the above exchange from CNN’s New Day.
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J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) is an editorial producer and columnist at Mediaite.
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