Carson delivers message of faith to Tea Party convention in Myrtle Beach

Republican presidential contender Ben Carson told participants at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention gathered Monday in Myrtle Beach that he did not intend to seek the nation’s highest office, but that his decision was made with God’s guidance.

“It’s a nasty cesspool, and no, I didn’t want to get into it,” Carson told several hundred people who attended the last day of the event at Springmaid Beach Resort.

“I said Lord, if you really want me to do this, you have to open the doors, and if you open the doors, I will walk through -- and he opened the doors,” Carson said.

“The only reason I am running is, God is hearing the cries of many people in this country -- a lot of people beaten down by progressive seculars who don’t care if you agree with them, as long as you sit down and shut up. And we have sat down and shut up for too long,” Carson said.

Carson was warmly received by an audience of several hundred convention participants, but it was about half the size of Saturday’s audience, which was addressed by GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Carson took a page from Trump’s campaign handbook and said that political correctness was destroying the nation from within, but he also took a thinly veiled shot at the New York Billionaire.

“I don’t think any problem can’t be solved with common sense, as long as you remove ego and politics,” Carson said.

The mild-mannered doctor was asked by an audience member if he was too nice to be president.

“I’ve heard more people say I should be more bombastic, call people names and act like a buffoon,” Carson said. “Throughout my medical career, I’ve faced a lot of controversy and opposition, and still succeeded without being nasty.”

Tom Stirling of Savannah, Georgia, said Carson is one of the best speakers he has ever heard.

“He’s outstanding,” Stirling said. “He’s very articulate and to the point, and you can tell he does truly care about the country. He is certainly a constitutionalist candidate and he knows the issues better than portrayed by the mass media.”

Trump drew the biggest crowd Saturday night and repeated his pledge to increase border security and reinvigorate the nation’s economy.

Hundreds of Cruz supporters also turned out to hear their candidate talk about kicking establishment Republicans out of Washington, a popular line with the conservative crowd.

Huckabee echoed that message: “People in our country and party are disgusted with politics as usual.”

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore addressed the convention on Sunday, and despite the conflicting timing with the Carolina Panthers’ game, hundreds of potential voters turned out to hear both candidates who are polling near the bottom nationally.

Carly Fiorina was originally scheduled to address the convention, but canceled last week.

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Carson delivers message of faith to Tea Party convention in Myrtle Beach."