That Awkward Moment: US Presidential Hopeful Carson Uses Fake Stalin Quote

Ben Carson, at the CBS News Republican presidential debate that took place in Greenville, South Carolina on Saturday said a lot of things. His speech also included a quote falsely attributed to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, according to The Washington Post.

"Joseph Stalin said if you want to bring America down, you have to undermine three things: our spiritual life, our patriotism and our morality," Carson said.

But the problem is Stalin never said that, at least there are no official records to confirm the statement. Maybe retired surgeon Carson has made up a quote to compare himself with Stalin or he wanted to elevate his standing among his supporters by quoting a historical figure or he's got access to classified files of "untold statements of dead world leaders."

US media was quick to find Carson' closing statement — apparently one he prepared in advance — very "showy." It turned out that some time ago a motifake with Stalin saying these words went viral on Facebook. So there might be a reason why Carson made the false statement.

Prior to the embarrassing statement, Carson said that he and his fellow candidates should choose their words carefully.

"We should all be careful about what we say, but the fact of the matter is, let's not get so concerned about how offended our enemies are," Carson said on ABC's "This Week."

Well, though Stalin and Carson have never been coevals, the chances that Stalin will be offended by Carson's statement is close to zero.