Once in the public spotlight, one should choose his words carefully

Ben Carson apologizes to Johns Hopkins

By: Alexander Burns, Politico.com
April 5, 2013 01:59 PM EDT

Maryland neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the nationally celebrated physician who has become a political lightning rod in recent weeks after his criticism of President Barack Obama and gay marriage, sent an apologetic email Friday to the Johns Hopkins University community expressing regret for “hurting others” with his words.

Carson became a sensation in the conservative media earlier this year after giving a politically charged speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, which Obama attended. Conservative opinion leaders praised his speech and activists on the right have floated the prospect of a 2016 presidential run – a suggestion Carson has done little to defuse.

But last week, in one of his many appearances on Fox News, Carson stepped on a political land mine when he compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia in explaining his opposition to gay marriage.

In a Friday email to the Hopkins community – which a source shared with POLITICO – Carson apologized for having caused “any embarrassment” to the institutions he has been affiliated with.

(More here.)