(NEW YORK) —  Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson told reporters before Tuesday night’s debate in Las Vegas that perhaps he will “bring some weapons with me” to the debate stage.

“Um, well maybe I’ll bring some weapons with me, spice it up a little bit,” Carson said laughing in response to a question asking if he needs to ramp up his debate rhetoric or go on the attack to grab more attention.

Recent polling both nationally and in Iowa has shown Carson slipping, most recently down to 9 percent in Monday’s Monmouth University poll — the first time he has been in the single digits since mid-August.

His drop comes in light of a new focus on national security in the Republican presidential field, bolstering the campaigns of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

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