Ward 2 candidate dropping out after too many lies
Categories: Notable MN
University of Minnesota student Charles Carlson received some pretty legitimate coverage when he announced he planned to challenge Ward 2 councilman Cam Gordon in the upcoming election.
Unfortunately his stories about his past were complete lies and Carlson says he plans to withdraw from the race today, according to a big investigation by the Minnesota Daily.
He never lived in England, never officiated tennis at the Beijing Olympics last year, and he didn't share a dessert with Hillary Clinton. Carlson suffers from mental illness, which could have led to some of the statements about his past.
Carlson, also a Minnesota representative at the Democratic National Convention, admitted to a long list of lies after being questioned by Daily reporters. His story was a little far-fetched in the first place.
More from the Daily:
Read the full story on the Daily site.
He never lived in England, never officiated tennis at the Beijing Olympics last year, and he didn't share a dessert with Hillary Clinton. Carlson suffers from mental illness, which could have led to some of the statements about his past.
Carlson, also a Minnesota representative at the Democratic National Convention, admitted to a long list of lies after being questioned by Daily reporters. His story was a little far-fetched in the first place.
More from the Daily:
Carlson, who speaks with an English accent, previously claimed he grew up in Ramsgate, England, but admitted recently that he grew up in the United States.Carlson says he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia affective disorder and he made false claims to hide his past including two years in a mental institution.
The Daily confirmed that Carlson attended elementary school, middle schools and high schools throughout Minnesota, including Northfield High School, where a former classmate said Carlson did not have an accent. Also, the classmate did not have any knowledge of Carlson previously living in England.
Carlson also provided the Daily with two fraudulent transcripts to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and Princeton University. These schools, along with two other English schools he claimed to have attended, had no record of Carlson.
"I spent six years being a gay nothing that people just made fun of, and then when I was discharged I found out that people would believe anything you told them," he said. "And in an effort to substantiate who I am, to be something, I went too far."Other lies: Carlson said he officiated tennis at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He said he knew Hillary Clinton back when he was a child in England and shared a crème brûlée torte with her. He also said he worked as a communications director on the Hillary Clinton campaign, but the Daily could not confirm it.
"This campaign was never about me, it was really about the fact that I felt students were being neglected," Carlson said. "I'm very sorry for not being honest."
Read the full story on the Daily site.
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