Washington Ben Carson struggled in an interview to explain whether he would support increasing the limit of debt that the country can incur, raising fresh questions about his understanding of the policy questions of the day.
In a tense back and forth on NPR's Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal , the Republican presidential candidate did not directly answer whether he'd support raising the caps, known as the debt ceiling, in order to prevent a default on some obligations.
The Treasury Department has said the government will hit the limit in November, and some Republicans in the past have advocated for using the debt negotiations as leverage to extract spending cuts from Democrats.
"I would provide the kind of leadership that says, 'Get on the stick guys, and stop messing around, and cut where you need to cut, because we're not raising any spending limits, period,'" said Carson, who added he supports 3% to 4% across the board cuts to the federal budget.