Carson: Both sides in abortion debate need to tone down rhetoric

GOP presidential candidate said both sides on the abortion debate need to “tone down” their rhetoric following a deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo.

{mosads}“I think both sides should tone down their rhetoric and engage in civil discussion,” Carson said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“There is no question that you know hateful rhetoric no matter which side it comes from – right or left – is something that is detrimental to our society,” he added. “This has been a big problem.”

Carson said the nation’s strength has traditionally been its unity.

“We are allowing all kinds of circumstances to divide us and make us hateful toward each other. And the rhetoric is extremely immature, divisive and is not helpful when you have outside forces – global Islamic radical jihadists who want to destroy us,” he said.

“Why would we be doing that to ourselves?”

“We at some point have got to become more mature,” Carson added. “No question the hateful rhetoric exacerbates the situation. And we should be doing all we can to engage in intelligent, civil discussion about our differences. That’s how we solve problems. We don’t ever solve them with hateful rhetoric.