Subtract this from the list of gaffes.

[Plane]

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/ben-carsons-supporters-see-through-his-gaffes-n450626

As a Republican presidential candidate, Ben Carson has said that:

•The nation's electrical grid is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse from the sun.
Six other things on this list.

This NBC author may not know this , but the sun can pulse magnetic energy in quantity enough to set fire to everything hooked up to a long wire.

This does not happen very often , but it is documented  to have happened .

So this is not Carson's ignorance , but this writers.

[Plane]

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/ben-carson-the-full-meet-the-press-interview-528797251922

Meet the Press is prone to ask relevant questions.