Ben Carson visits refugees in Jordan, decides they still shouldn't come to US

At first, it seemed like presidential candidate Ben Carson had suffered from a sudden change of heart—his trip to Jordan this weekend to visit Syrian refugees clearly had some impact on him. However in reality his stance on not wanting them to come to the US does not seem to have changed in the slightest.

A statement on Facebook posted by Carson’s campaign after he visited a refugee camp could easily fool someone into believing that he was about to advocate a more refugee-friendly stance. Take for example this paragraph:

"They came to Jordan for safety. Jordan is doing an amazing job opening its doors and extending a hand in relief. The rest of the world could be doing so much more.”

Sounds hopeful so far right? Well, he wasn't quite finished yet.

Turns out the statement—accompanied by a black-and white-photo of the retired neurosurgeon stroking the head of a sleeping baby—does nothing more than reinforce Carson’s view that refugees should not come to the US.

He goes on...

“Until it is safe for them to return home, Jordan is a safe place for them to wait.”

And on...

“The United States must do more. We can do our part to help this crisis without bringing 10-25,000 refugees to the United States.”

He acknowledges that the US must do more, which is a start. Then he says Jordan deserves logistical and financial support, and of course does not miss the opportunity to suggest that the problems were “created in part by the Obama-Clinton Administration’s failed policies.”

Then there's the rather random mention of the US maybe accepting 25,000 refugees but which, as tactfully as the Associate Press could phrase it, "it was not clear what Carson was referring to."

US President Barack Obama has said his administration will allow 10,000 Syrian refugees to resettle in America over the next year. The campaign later revised the statement to reflect 10-25,000, but we're still not really sure where that first number came from.

See the campaign's updated, full post below, via Facebook.