Ben Carson calls Cronkite a 'left-wing radical,' but says it's a compliment

Ben Carson thinks legendary newsman Walter Cronkite was a “left-wing radical” but praised him for keeping it hidden in his reporting.

"You could really trust him, even though Walter Cronkite was a left-wing radical, you would never know that," Carson said on CNN’s New Day Monday. The retired neurosurgeon and Donald Trump surrogate appeared on the show to discuss candidates' treatment by the media following a New York Times story titled “Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump behaved with Women in Private.”

One of the key women featured in the story has said that the story is incorrect, and Trump and his campaign have actively fought back, calling the story a “hit piece.”

Host Chris Cuomo argued Carson’s point about the long-time CBS anchor: "I don't accept that about Walter Cronkite … He was trusted because he was even, and he covered things from both perspectives, shading as he thought appropriate.”

"What I said about him is actually complimentary," Carson said. "This is the way it should be. Your personal feelings should not enter into the way you disseminate the information."

"I'm just saying Walter Cronkite in my experience was not a radical left-wing guy who was just hiding it on TV," Cuomo said. "The compliment should be offered plainly, which is he did the job the right way."

"He did a very good job, we can agree on that, " Carson said.