GOP front-runner Donald Trump called Ben Carson a liar last night, and in recounting some of the alleged mischaracterizations of his rival's life stories, wondered about Iowans and Americans' intelligence.
"How stupid are the people of Iowa?" Trump said in the speech. "How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?" Trump railed during his 95-minute speehc in Iowa. "Let me tell you something. If I did the stuff he said he did, I wouldn't be here right now," he said. "It would have been over. It would have been over. OK? It would have been totally over. So that's who is in second place, and I don't get it."
Trump has clearly decided he needs to attack Carson, who is either slightly ahead, or tied with him in most national polls.
In his book "Gifted Hands," Carson describes the uncontrollable anger he felt at times while growing up in inner-city Detroit. He refers to his "pathological temper" in recounting the time he nearly punched his mother and when he attempted to stab a friend with a knife.
The Washington Post's story described some in the audience as becoming very silent. Some media outlets began questioning Trump's strategy of attacking Carson in such a manner, in what is a key element of the retired neurosurgeon's story of finding his faith.