GOP Front Runner Ben Carson Lied About Being Accepted to West Point

One year ago, few could have predicted the political rise of a retired neurosurgeon who believes the Holocaust could have been averted if Jewish citizens had been packing heat.

In addition to some of his more outlandish statements – which we’ll get to in a moment – Carson’s detractors have pointed out that while he may have successfully separated conjoined twins in 1987, he has zero experience in US government. That includes both the military and civil sectors.

For the most part, the Carson campaign has worked to turn this into an advantage. Washington is broken, needs fresh faces, etc.

But while the surgeon cannot claim to have served his country in any capacity, according to Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” he can, at least, take credit for receiving a “full scholarship” to the US Military Academy at West Point.

After excelling in his high school ROTC program, Carson says he was introduced "to General Westmoreland, and I had dinner with him and the Congressional Medal winners. Later I was offered a full scholarship."

Except, according to Politico, West Point has no record of that.

"In 1969, those who would have completed the entire process would have received their acceptance letters from the Army Adjutant General," Theresa Brinkerhoff, a spokeswoman for the academy, told Politico.

"If he chose to pursue (the application process), then we would have records indicating such."

The Carson campaign has been quick to refute the allegations that the presidential candidate misled people about his education, but conceded that he never received a full scholarship.

"Dr. Carson was the top ROTC student in the City of Detroit," campaign manager Barry Bennett told Politico. "In that role he was invited to meet General Westmoreland. He believes it was at a banquet. He can’t remember with specificity their brief conversation but it centered around Dr. Carson’s performance as ROTC City Executive Officer.

"He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors. They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission."

But according to records of Westmoreland’s schedule, also obtained by Politico, the general appears to have been in Washington DC during the time that Carson claims to have met him in Detroit.

It is possible, however, that Carson was in attendance during a February event of that year.

While claims of his academic career may have been exaggerated, increased scrutiny is shining an unfortunate light on Carson’s other attributes – his groundless beliefs in history and science.

During the 1998 commencement speech, Carson also bravely criticized "scientists" who claim the pyramids were built by "alien beings."

"I submit that changes can occur within a species," he said, according to Gawker. "But is that a sign of evolution, or is it a sign of an intelligent creator who gave his creatures the ability to adapt to their environment so he wouldn’t have to start over every 50 years?"

He also touted a common creationist criticism about the lack of transitional species in the fossil record.

Archaeologists have uncovered hundreds of transitional fossils, however. Tiktaalik, for instance, commonly referred to as the "Fishapod" is a 375 million-year-old fossil that has the gill of a fish, but almost limb-like fins. There’s Archaeopteryx, a 145-million-year-old fossil which shows a link between dinosaurs and modern birds. There’s even the "Turkana boy," part of an early species of human which bears many similarities to primates.