Carson cancels Israel, Africa trip amid security concerns

Ben Carson’s Republican presidential campaign has cancelled planned trips to Israel and Africa amid security concerns, a spokesman told The Hill.

{mosads}The campaign declined to detail any specific threats, but spokesman Doug Watts called the concerns “significant.”

“They were of such a nature that we found it prudent not to put anyone at any kind of risk,” Watts added.

Carson was scheduled to travel to Israel, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3.

Earlier this month, Carson traveled to Jordan to visit with Syrian refugees.

The retired pediatric neurosurgeon is seeking to bolster his foreign policy bona fides to convince voters that he’s a qualified commander in chief after stumbling on national security matters.

The GOP presidential race has focused heavily on national security after terror attacks in France and San Bernardino, Calif., and Carson has acknowledged that questions over his foreign policy acumen have weighed on him.

After jockeying to the top of the GOP primary polls alongside Donald Trump for much of November, Carson has tumbled into fourth place nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics average.