Ben Carson, Ted Cruz to Speak at Bob Jones University
For years, Bob Jones University (BJU) was a vital destination for any conservative candidate seeking support from either South Carolina voters or the religious right more broadly. But controversy at the start of the new millennium over its longstanding ban on interracial dating cost the evangelical school its relevance in American politics.
“It isn’t quite the upside it once was for Republican candidates appearing there, but some of the downside is still around.” Jim Guth, a professor at Furman University Now, with back-to-back appearances this week by Republican presidential hopefuls Ben Carson and Ted Cruz, BJU is staging a political comeback of sorts, testing whether its relationship with the GOP can again be as mutually beneficial as it once was.
“It isn’t quite the upside it once was for Republican candidates appearing there,” Jim Guth, a professor at Furman University, told MSNBC. “But some of the downside is still around.”