Carson slams reporters over questions about his past

Ben Carson spent much of Friday aggressively rebutting media reports about his past – a striking departure from the mellow personality he has displayed on the campaign trail.

"There is a desperation on behalf of some to try to find ways to tarnish me because they've been looking through everything, they have been talking to everybody I've ever known, everybody I've ever seen," Carson told reporters at a media availability in Florida.

"'There's got to be a scandal. There's got to be some nurse he's had an affair with. There's got to be something.' They have gotten desperate," Carson continued. "Next week, it will be my kindergarten teacher who said I peed in my pants. It's ridiculous. But it's OK because I totally expect it."

Carson's personal narrative – a centerpiece of his campaign and star power – has long revolved around his accounts of his violent past and descriptions of the healing powers of his faith.

In a story published on Thursday, CNN reported that childhood friends of Carson were surprised about violent incidents he has described in a book, public speeches and interviews and had no recollection of such events. Scott Glover and Maeve Reston spoke with nine friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with Carson, and none had any memory of the anger or violence the candidate has described.

Friday morning on CNN's "New Day," he said the network's reporting of his past was a "bunch of lies."

"This is a bunch of lies, that is what it is," Carson told Alisyn Camerota when she asked about the report by Glover and Reston in which they spoke to people Carson grew up with. "This is a bunch of lies attempting to say I'm lying about my history. I think it's pathetic, and basically what the media does is they try to get you distracted."

Camerota pushed back on Carson's argument that the reporters did not talk to people who knew him earlier than high school, but Carson rejected that and launched into an aggressive attack on the media. He accused the media of not scrutinizing President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to the same degree.

"The vetting that you all did with President Obama doesn't even come close, doesn't even come close to what you guys are trying to do in my case, and you're just going to keep going back, 'He said this 12 years ago' –  it is just garbage," Carson said. "Give me a break."

Reston and Glover repeatedly approached the Carson campaign during their reporting and again before publication of the story. But the campaign staff declined to comment or to assist them in locating classmates or victims of violence who could provide insights about Carson's past.