Carson: GOP Recruited Me for Speaker

According to Ben Carson, several House Republicans reached out to him in 2014 about possibly replacing John Boehner as Speaker of the House. “They were looking for an alternative," the GOP candidate told The Hill on Thursday. "They were looking for someone strong and courageous who might really be able to add some spine and some backbone.” He concluded: “I was very flattered that there were several members that thought I’d fit the bill very well, but I think it played out correctly the way that it did.” A separate source confirmed that "several" Republicans did, indeed, reach out to the retired neurosurgeon.