Um … what?
Ben Carson thinks people get overly upset over his comparison between the US and Nazi Germany because they get all hung up on the reference to Nazi Germany. Which was the reference he made. But not what he meant to refer to, at least not in the way that some listeners are interpreting.
Sounds like the guy would do great at meetings with heads of state.
I realize that there can be differences in opinion about what something meant, and in how people interpret different references. The differences in meaning as the speaker / writer intended and as the listener / reader understands it is a danger in all communication. Carson made a comparison on particular aspects (that the Third Reich's government intimidated the populace, which didn't speak up soon enough to stop it), and apparently did not intend to include all the other various baggage that Nazi Germany calls to mind.
It seems to me, though, that not realizing those kind of misinterpretations can happen is a sign of a bobble in communication skills. To handwave them later on seems to not only compound that error (implying the listener should parse the mind of the speaker) but also in this case minimize the actual magnitude of the Nazi past (Carson apparently considers having a gut reaction to comparisons between the US and Nazi Germany as "PC-ism").
Carson has a large body of admirers for being an outsider in the political system and thus being something of a "maverick" in his opinions. However, his suggestion that when he uses metaphorical language ("Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery") we should take it for granted that he doesn't really mean that it's "worse" than any other event, political or otherwise, since then, or that if he compares the the US to Nazi Germany he really only means in particular ways and (maybe) not to the same degree or (probably) not in other particular ways, strikes me as sloppy speech for an increasingly public figure. His resentment for being called on it doesn't bode particularly well, either.
Ben Carson Lashes Out At Wolf Blitzer: Don’t ‘Focus On The Words’ When I Compare U.S. To Nazis
Possible Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson on Wednesday lashed out at CNN host Wolf Blitzer for “focusing on the words” that he used when he compared the United States to Nazi Germany.
Don’t listen to my words, listen to what they mean.
Um.
Nope. Still confused.
But then I am English, speaking English all my life. What can I know? That National Health System we have kept me poor. When my dad had a heart attack (at the age of 77) the publicly funded health service flew him in a helicopter to the hospital, where they performed surgery.
Bastards. His house is worth over £300k ($500,000).
Bad as slavery that is.