GOP presidential candidate and second-to-the-Donald Ben Carson said on Wednesday that a government like Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany could occur in the United States.
He argued that that sort of regime is plausible in any society that relinquishes its freedoms.
“I beg to differ,” he said after proposing that scenario is impossible in America, according to CNN.
“If you go back and look at the history of the world, tyranny and despotism and how it starts, it has a lot to do with control of thought and control of speech,” Carson said.
“If people don’t speak up for what they believe, then other people will change things without them having a voice,” the retired neurosurgeon added.
“Hitler changed things there and nobody protested. Nobody provided any opposition to him.”
When asked who in modern day America most resembled Hitler, Carson refused to comment.
“I’m not going to go into that,” he said without elaborating further. “I think the example is pretty clear.”
This prompted questioning as to whether this was a reference to President Obama’s administration, to which he said no.
Carson has been sparking controversy recently with his frank rhetoric, including his statements last week about not supporting a Muslim president.
Voter support for Carson is currently rising rapidly in multiple national polls. He ranks number 2 out of 15 GOP presidential candidates with 16.3 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.