Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson was in the Granite State Thursday.
The retired neurosurgeon defended his role in a 1992 study that used tissue from aborted fetuses.
Carson's campaign says he had nothing to do with the acquisition of that fetal tissue. Carson himself said to not use the tissue that is already available for research would be foolish.
"Whoever put that story out actually has very little knowledge of how things work in medicine and in science," Carson told reporters during a stop at The Puritan Backroom in Manchester.
Carson greeted diners at the restaurant before a town hall meeting in Hooksett. There, Carson warned that the national debt has grown too large, and said he would shrink the size of government if elected president.
Carson, who grew up poor, says economic growth is the best way to lift people out of poverty.
"To me, care for the poor means creating a mechanism for the poor to climb the ladder of success so they don't remain poor," he said. "Somebody else's definition may be just to pat them on the head and make sure you take care of them and make sure they stay satisfied."
Carson, who has never held elected office, has not fared well in New Hampshire polls so far, but a poll released Wednesday has him in second place in Iowa.