Ben Carson was led by God to run for president and he will not drop out unless God tells him to, according to his wife Candy.

Mrs Carson was speaking to students at Lee University, a private Christian college in Cleveland, Tennessee as Carson trailed in the polls going into the Super Tuesday primaries as a Republican candidate.

Times Free Press reported that she referenced the Bible, and said God had called her husband to be the voice of one crying out in the wilderness on national security, the country's $19 trillion debt and similar issues. And while she believed voters like her husband, a retired surgeon, she said they do not vote for him because they've been convinced by the media he cannot win.

She described the media as "stupid".

Shortly after Mrs Carson made these comments, a separate report by USA Today cited a poll that shows Ben Carson is the favourite to be Vice-President to Donald Trump, should he be the ultimate victor. Morning Consult found 11 per cent of Republican voters favoured Carson over just 9 per cent for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Lee University reported that Mrs Carson talked about "family, life, politics, and other small topics."

She toured the campus before brunch and then spoke about the challenges of life on the campaign trail. On Carson's decision to run for president, she explained: "For Ben it is a calling. Neither one of us wanted to give up our private life for something like this, but we reached the conclusion that this is God's will."

When asked about Super Tuesday, she said:  "I feel a little nervous, but deep inside Ben and I feel that it's in the Lord's hands. He called us to this." Many in the crowd used the time to express admiration for the Carsons' example of Christ-centered leadership, according to the Lee report. The one-hour session ended with a standing ovation. 

Dr Jerome Hammond, Lee Vice President for university relations, said: "We worked for months with the Carson campaign to make this happen because we think Mrs Carson is a person our students can admire. On the eve of Super Tuesday in one of the most interesting presidential campaigns in 50 years, we were pleased to host the spouse of a major candidate, especially someone like Candy Carson."