ben carson
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says he's facing an unprecedented level of scrutiny. Pictured: Carson speaks to the media during a stop to sign his book at a Barnes and Noble store on Nov. 5, 2015 in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Dr. Ben Carson Sunday turned aside attacks on his veracity, saying he challenges anyone to be accurate about events 40 or 50 years in the past. The Republican presidential hopeful made the rounds of Sunday talk shows, challenging media reports that pointed out alleged misstatements on the campaign trail and in his book, "Golden Hands."

Carson told ABC's "This Week" and the other shows the media is being unfair, that he would be willing to "learn at the feet" of anyone who can be perfectly accurate about the past.

Politico reported last week there was no evidence Carson had won a scholarship to the military academy at West Point, the Wall Street Journal challenged his recollection about being named the most honest student in a psychology course at Yale, and CNN said it could find no one to back up Carson's claim he tried to stab a friend when he was 14.

"There's no question I'm getting special scrutiny," Carson charged on CBS's "Face the Nation," saying people are afraid of his campaign. "They've seen the recent head-to-head polling against [Democrat] Hillary [Clinton] and how well I do. And, you know, they're worried. There is no question about it." (A Real Clear Politics average of national polls indicates Carson beating Clinton in a head-to-head contest, 48.6 percent to 43.4 percent.

Carson told NBC's "Meet the Press" he's never seen this level of scrutiny and believes it's becasue he's seen as "a threat to the secular progressive movement."

On CBS's "Face the Nation," Carson parsed his past comments, saying he had been offered a full scholarship to West Point, not that he had won one.

"For people that try to take this and twist it and make it seem like something dishonest, that seems like dishonesty itself," Carson said, calling the controversy a distraction.

"If you've got a real scandal, if you've got something that's really important, let's talk about that."

Donald Trump, who made the talk show rounds by phone, said he feels sorry for Carson but intimated he has trouble believing Carson's claims.