Regarding education, he spoke favorably about graduation rates in 1831, when Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States, and when "anybody finishing the second grade was completely literate".

[11] Conservative commentators from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto of Fox News praised the speech as an example of speaking "truth to power".

"[12] He was a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast.

[16] Carson also had a strong showing in the polls at the 2013 and 2014 Values Voter Summits; in 2013, he tied with former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum for second place with 13%, behind Ted Cruz's 42%.

[24][better source needed] On August 2, 2014, it was reported that Carson had officially approved the formation of his own Political Action Committee, named One Nation, and also appointed Texas businessman Terry Giles as chairman of a potential presidential campaign.

[47] The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit,[5] he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a rousing speech on his rags to riches life story; at one point, he stated: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed.

An attempt is underway by his departing campaign chairperson, who must first observe a legally-mandated 120-day 'cool-off period', to form a single super-PAC (political action committee) to better channel funds.

[90] An op-ed article released in conjunction with the Fox News poll declared that Carson was "giving Trump a run for his money" in the race for the nomination.

[83][84] On October 14, it was reported that Carson was temporarily halting his presidential campaign in order to do a two-week promotional tour for his latest book, A More Perfect Union.

[115] This made both Carson and Trump two of the earliest instances of presidential candidates receiving Secret Service protection in American history, over a year before the general election.

[116] Throughout late October and early November, Carson began to face increased media scrutiny over his biographical narrative and repeatedly pushed back against most criticisms.

[119][120][121][122][123][124] In a final showing before his national numbers dropped out of the double digits, Carson tied for first (alongside Trump) in statewide polls in Tennessee and California.

"[130] After these events and the November 2015 Paris attacks, Carson started slipping in the polls, falling 10 points in Iowa, amid scrutiny of his lack of credentials on foreign affairs.

In the Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Carson's position had fallen from first with 24.8% on November 5 to fourth with just 13.2%, behind Trump, Rubio, and Cruz, as of December 13.

[150][151] He opposes access to abortion in virtually all cases, including pregnancies resulting from incest or rape,[150][151] but would consider allowing its use if a woman's health is in danger.

"[161] Former head of the Congressional Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin criticized this statement, noting the U.S. debt is primarily "attributable to significant growth" in entitlement spending (i.e., Social Security and Medicare).

"[175] Carson praised the concept of free trade, but voiced objections to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, calling for the deal to be renegotiated, "because right now we have a lot of special interest groups who benefit.

[178][179][180] Carson asserted that the AP U.S. History overemphasizes wrongdoing (such as slavery, Japanese internment, and atrocities against American Indians) by the United States, saying: "I think most people, when they finish that course, they'd be ready to go sign up for ISIS.

Carson further argued against evolution, stating his disbelief in the possibility of the "complexity of the human brain" arising "from a slime pit full of promiscuous biochemicals".

[152] Carson stated on the campaign trail also said that if he were in a position of national authority, he would allow citizens to own any weapons, including automatic and semi-automatic guns, that they could legally buy.

[197] In March 2014, when asked about his previous claim that Americans were living "in a Gestapo age", Carson said that the United States is "very much like Nazi Germany ... [there] you had a government using its tools to intimidate a population."

"[203] In arguing that the Affordable Care Act gave the government "control of the people", Carson several times invoked a spurious quote from Vladimir Lenin.

[212][213] In a 1998 commencement speech at Andrews University, Carson publicly expressed the view that the Pyramids of Giza were not tombs, but grain silos built by Joseph, the Biblical son of Jacob, in preparation for the famine depicted in the Book of Genesis.

[241] Carson, while on the boards for Costco and food manufacturer Kellogg's, supported initiatives for employment non-discrimination, health insurance for domestic partners, and diversity training.

"[243] In a March 2015 interview with Chris Cuomo, Carson stated he believes homosexuality is a choice, saying: "a lot of people go into prison straight, and when they come out, they're gay".

[253][254] Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center who served in the last three Republican administrations, said that Carson views Skousen's work as "an interpretive key to America today.

Carson initially opposed the Obama administration's proposed military intervention in Syria in September 2013, claiming that the rebels it would be in support of posed a national security threat to the United States and Israel, and disputing the allegation that the Syrian government was responsible for the use of chemical weapons.

[257] In November 2015, Carson once again opposed U.S. assistance to Syrian rebels, instead supporting a political solution in Syria, culminating in a coalition government that would include Assad.

[258] In a 2014 op-ed article, Carson argued that the First Amendment's Establishment Clause has been "reinterpreted" by progressives away from its original intent, writing that "our Judeo-Christian values have taken a big hit in recent years" although "we have not yet reached the point of a totally godless government.