“Let me set the record straight, OK,” Carmona said in the local television interview. “I have no connections to President Obama.”

But Carmona was “personally recruited” by Obama to run for retiring Sen. Jon Kyl’s (R., Ariz.) open U.S. Senate seat in 2012, according to reports.

Obama called Carmona last September 23 to “encourage him to run,” according to a Democratic strategist quoted by Politico.

Carmona also said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray joined Obama in encouraging him to enter the race…

“I think Dr. Carmona has a very big ego, and I think his ego was scratched very hard by President Obama and his people,” said Arizona Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash, who has known the candidate for more than 20 years.