PrintHas Ben Carson Turned on Donald Trump?
Ben Carson’s endorsement of Donald Trump last Friday left many pundits and supporters scratching their heads. Three days later, in an interview, Carson sounded as if his support for the front runner was less than heartfelt.
After assuring the press on Friday he and Trump had "buried the hatchet," Carson told Newsmax's Steve Malzberg on Monday he would have preferred another candidate like Rubio or Kasich. Carson explained his rationale for supporting Trump.
“I had to look at what is practical… Is there another scenario that I would have preferred? Yes. But that scenario isn’t available." Besides, he said, even if Trump doesn't deliver the goods, “we’re only looking at 4 years."
Later, when Malzberg inserted race into the discussion of Trump paying legal fees for protesters, and misidentified the Trump supporter and protester involved in an altercation at one of the candidate's rallies, Carson not only failed to correct the interviewer, he chastised Trump for giving "the progressives a gift" and acting like Obama.
Here's the exchange:
SM: Offering to pay the expenses of a man, the black man who hit the other, I believe black man, who punched him. Do you believe that that is the right thing to do?
BC: That certainly is not what I would have done. Even if I was going to, I wouldn't have announced it publicly because that does provide for the progressives, you know, a gift that you don't need to give them.
ST: So why do you think he does that?
BC: Uh, well he's a showman. Recognize that uh, you're dealing with somebody that has become world famous with showmanship. And there's no reason to expect that that's going to stop now. Just like you look at Barack Obama, you know, his colors were demonstrated, it's just that nobody chose to look at them
According to Carson, Trump isn't world famous because of the hundreds of buildings he's built around the globe, the tens of thousands of jobs he’s created or his business acumen; the only reason he's famous is because he's a “showman.” Ouch.
Carson has made some questionable statements in the past but his suggestion Trump is basically an entertainer and “just like” Obama makes me wonder if Carson forgot which side he is on or has wholeheartedly decided to align with the #NeverTrump movement.
Malzberg then proceeded to press Carson on whether Trump had offered him a position in his administration. Carson's reply had left-wing sites like Mother Jones, Mediaite and Think Progress salivating and citing federal law.
“I will be doing things as well, yeah,” Carson told Malzberg, “certainly in an advisory capacity.”
“Has that been discussed?” asked Malzberg. “Yes,” said Carson but then declined to be more specific “because all of this is still very liquid… and we haven’t hammered out all the details.”
Either Carson is woefully naïve, unprepared or this is some kind of covert revenge to get back at Trump for the shots he took from the businessman early on. Carson struggled in the Newsmax interview to say nice things about Trump. Is he still harboring unresolved resentment toward the Republican leader?
When asked how he reconciled the attacks from Trump with his later endorsement, Carson suggested the “politics of personal destruction” has been around forever, no big deal and, in his case, he said, “it worked.” Yikes, Trump may want to reconsider accepting Carson’s support
