Highlights:
TRUMP PURCHASED NEGATIVE STORIES ON CARSON DURING THE 2016 PRIMARY
Trump Purchased Negative Stories About Carson To Run In The National Enquirer During The 2016 Presidential Primary. According to the Associated Press, “The testimony from David Pecker was designed to bolster the prosecution’s premise of a decades-long friendship between Trump and the former publisher of the National Enquirer that culminated in an agreement to give the candidate’s lawyer a heads-up on negative tips and stories so they could be quashed. […] To illustrate their point, prosecutors displayed a screenshot of various flattering headlines the National Enquirer published about Trump, including ‘Donald Dominates!’ and ‘World Exclusive: The Donald Trump Nobody Knows.’ The jury was also shown disparaging and outlandish stories about Trump’s opponents, including surgeon Ben Carson and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.” [Associated Press, 4/23/24]
Carson On Trump’s Social Media Usage: “Social Media Provides A Great Platform For Discourse, But We Must Be Careful With The Messages We Send Out.” According to Business Insider, “Ben Carson took a swipe at Donald Trump on Tuesday morning after the Manhattan billionaire and his campaign spent days defending a controversial tweet. ‘Social media provides a great platform for discourse, but we must be careful with the messages we send out,’ wrote Carson, a former 2016 presidential hopeful and current Trump surrogate.” [Business Insider, 7/5/16]
Carson Stated That The Biggest Difference Between Himself And Trump Was That Carson Did Not “Deny My Faith In God.” According to the Washington Post, “It was only when he was asked to name a difference between himself and Trump that Carson seemed to lean in. ‘The biggest thing is that I realize where my success has come from, and I don't any way deny my faith in God,’ said Carson. ‘And I think that probably is a big difference between us.’” [Washington Post, 9/9/15]
Carson Questioned The Sincerity Of Trump’s Professed Christianity. According to the Washington Post, “A reporter asked Carson to expand on that response, and on whether he didn't believe Trump's expressions of faith have been sincere. ‘I haven’t heard it, I haven’t seen it," said Carson. ‘You know, one of my favorite, Proverbs 22:4, it says: 'By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches and honor and life.' And that's a very big part of who I am. Humility, and fear of the Lord. I don’t get that impression with him. Maybe I'm wrong.’” [Washington Post, 9/9/15]
Trump Expressed Skepticism At Carson’s Claims That His Attempt To Stab A Friend Was Stopped By A Belt Buckle. According to ABC News, “Now the two have come to blows over Carson's description of his childhood violence in his biography ‘Gifted Hands’. On Thursday, Trump mocked Carson’s claim that he attempted to stab a friend or relative and that Carson's knife blade broke before he could succeed. ‘It hit the belt. And the knife broke. Give me a break,’ Trump said at an Iowa rally. ‘He hit the belt buckle? Anybody with a knife want to try it on me? Believe me it ain't gonna work,’ he said.” [ABC News, 11/13/15]
Trump Said That Carson’s “Pathological Temper” Was Incurable And Likened It To “Child Molesting.” According to CNN, “Donald Trump said Thursday that Ben Carson’s self-described ‘pathological temper’ is incurable – adding that it’s like the sickness of a ‘child molester.’ ‘It’s in the book that he’s got a pathological temper,’ Trump told ‘Erin Burnett OutFront,’ speaking about Carson’s autobiography. ‘That’s a big problem because you don’t cure that … as an example: child molesting. You don’t cure these people. You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that.’ In his 1990 autobiography, ‘Gifted Hands,’ Carson attributes violent behavior in his youth to his ‘disease,’ a ‘pathological temper’ that the Republican presidential hopeful said caused him to strike one friend with a rock and attempt to stab another. In subsequent accounts of his violent youth, Carson said he once attempted to attack his mother with a hammer. ‘I’m not bringing up anything that’s not in his book,’ Trump told Erin Burnett. ‘You know, when he says he went after his mother and wanted to hit her in the head with a hammer, that bothers me. I mean, that’s pretty bad. When he says he’s pathological – and he says that in the book, I don’t say that – and again, I’m not saying anything, I’m not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he’s pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease.’” [CNN, 11/12/15]
Carson Said That Trump Was Acting “Like A Politician” By Being “Very Dishonest.” According to the Des Moines Register, “Last fall, Dr. Ben Carson was the unlikely leader of the Republican presidential field nationally and in Iowa, but five days before the Hawkeye State's opening caucuses he is struggling to score a strong enough finish to stay in the race. For that, he blames unfair and inaccurate news coverage — and Donald Trump. ‘He was very dishonest,’ the retired pediatric neurosurgeon told a breakfast with reporters hosted by Bloomberg Politics. Trump's mocking attacks on Carson's character and life story say ‘that he acts like a politician, and politicians do things that are politically expedient. They don't do things that are right.’” [Des Moines Register, 1/27/16]
Carson Said That People Should “Pray For” Trump In Response To Trump’s Child Molester Comparison. According to the Daily News, “Ben Carson’s team says he’s turning the other cheek after business mogul Donald Trump called him ‘pathological’ and compared him to a child molester. ‘When I spoke with Dr. Carson about this yesterday how we should respond, you know he was so sad about it. He said: ‘Pray for him.’ He feels sorry for him because he really likes Mr. Trump,’ Carson surrogate Armstrong Williams told CNN a day after Trump’s 90-minute meltdown in Iowa.” [Daily News, 11/13/15]
Carson Stated That He Does Not Agree With Everything Trump Says Or “How It Is Said.” According to The Hill, “Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Monday said he does not always agree with President Trump. ‘I’m a member of this administration and I don’t agree with the president about everything that he says or of how it is said,’ Carson said while speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., receiving applause for his remark. ‘If the way you say things is so inflammatory that people can’t hear your message, it is not helpful. And that is why I don’t do that anymore,’ he added at a service honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.” [The Hill, 1/15/18]
Carson’s Remarks Followed Backlash To Trump’s “Sh*thole Countries” Comment. According to The Hill, “Carson’s remarks come after Trump faced extreme backlash last week for reportedly describing several nations as ‘shithole countries’ during an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform. ‘Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?’ Trump reportedly said, referring to immigrants from African countries, Haiti and El Salvador. He then allegedly proposed bringing in more immigrants from countries like Norway, a predominantly white country.” [The Hill, 1/15/18]
Trump Shared Posts Claiming DeSantis Was “Grooming” Students When He Was A Teacher. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “The political rivalry between former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis reached a new level Tuesday, with the Republicans trading blows over claims made by Trump on social media about DeSantis’ behavior with students when he was a teacher at a Georgia school. Although Trump did not directly make the allegations, he did share posts on his social media site, Truth Social, by supporters accusing DeSantis of ‘grooming’ and ‘ephebophilia’ — a sexual attraction to people in their mid- to late teens. Trump and his backers have provided no evidence to support the allegations. ‘That’s not Ron, is it?’ Trump wrote above one of his supporter’s posts. ‘He would never do such a thing!’ The spat comes amid rampant speculation that DeSantis will challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. DeSantis has not entered the race, and polls show Trump is still the front-runner. Trump’s posts reference a photo of DeSantis that appears to be from when he was 23 and a high school teacher at a boarding and day school in Georgia. He’s surrounded by young women in the shot, one of whom is holding a brown glass bottle. The photo first surfaced on a blog run by a Democratic political organization.” [Tampa Bay Times, 2/8/23]
Carson Said That “It Would Be Nice” If Trump Did Not Engage In Personal Attacks In Response To Trump Re-posting Allegations Of DeSantis “Partying With Teens” As A Teacher. According to the Daily Mail, “Carson, who ultimately made peace with Trump and served as his Housing secretary, revealed his concerns to DailyMail.com, a day after Trump posted a photo of DeSantis allegedly partying with teens back when he was a boarding school history teacher in 2001-2002. ‘It would be nice if he would stick to the issues. I think it would increase his acceptance among the voters,’ said Carson. The soft-spoken Carson also called out Trump by name, and shared concern of a potential replay of the 2016 campaign, when Trump blew through the Republican field by taking down his Republican rivals with personal attacks one-by-one on figures from Jeb Bush to himself and Ted Cruz. ‘Yeah - I hope that the process will allow everybody to really talk about the policy and not talk about people. And I hope that that will permeate the surface and that will get to all the players – including Trump,’ Carson said.” [Daily Mail, 2/8/23]
VIDEO: Carson Says That Trump’s Comments Can “Irritate People.” According to Fox News via YouTube, “CARSON: In the case of Donald Trump, sometimes he says things that irritate people. But you have to look at his policies.” [Fox News via YouTube, 1:18 -1:25, 1/16/24]
Carson Admitted That Trump “Says Some Pretty Weird Things” And That His Comments Can Be “A Little Wild.” According to the Quad City Times, “At a west Davenport church Wednesday night, former opponent Ben Carson tried to assuage any potential misgivings about Donald Trump. ‘The thing about Donald Trump, I will admit that sometimes he says some pretty weird things,’ Carson said. ‘But you have to watch what he does.’ Carson said Trump ‘signed more executive orders for religious liberty than any other president,’ and his administration advocated for more U.S. fuel production and reduced regulations. ‘Would you rather have somebody whose tongue is maybe a little wild, but has incredibly good policies that make your life better?’ Carson asked. ‘Or somebody who has a silver tongue, and says all the right things, and has terrible policies which ruin your life and those of your children and grandchildren.’” [Quad City Times, 1/11/24]
Trump Repeatedly Stated That Athletes Kneeling Were Disrespecting “Our Country & Our Flag.” According to CNN, “The President has long railed against National Football League players and other athletes who have taken a knee during the National Anthem, suggesting multiple times that those athletes should be penalized. NFL players have said the protests, which began in 2016, are intended to draw attention to systemic bias against people of color. Trump has viewed the issue as a political winner, previously using the protests to fire up his base. He told attendees of a private dinner in 2017: ‘It’s really caught on. It’s really caught on.’ Carson’s comments come after 20 consecutive days of protests around the country after the death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody. But Trump has maintained his position in recent weeks, tweeting on June 7 that the act of kneeling is ‘disrespecting our Country & our Flag.’” [CNN, 6/15/20]
Carson Disagreed With Trump’s Claim That Athletes Kneeling Were Disrespecting The National Anthem And The American Flag. According to CNN, “Carson said Monday it was important that Americans understand why athletes are kneeling – as an act of peaceful protest to systemic racism and police brutality ‘A lot of people are under the impression that they’re kneeling because they don’t respect our National Anthem or they don’t respect the flag or what it stands for. And in fact, I don’t think that’s the reason that most of them are kneeling. I think most of them are kneeling because you know, they want to protest some brutality in the police forces. They need to make that very clear,’ Carson said.” [CNN, 6/15/20]
Carson Claimed That He Was Trying To Convince Trump To Reconsider His Position On Athletes Kneeling. According to CNN, “Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson said Monday that he is urging President Donald Trump to reconsider his long-held opposition to athletes kneeling during the National Anthem, and Trump could be open to changing his mind. ‘Well, I don’t think he has manifested as much animosity in that region lately. And I think we just continue to work him. He’ll get there,’ Carson, the only black member of the President’s Cabinet, said during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt when pressed on whether he’s working to persuade Trump on the matter.” [CNN, 6/15/20]
Trump Repeatedly Attacked Migrant Caravans Attempting To Cross The Border By Suggesting They Include “Unknown Middle Easterners.” According to the Guardian, “Trump has repeatedly attacked migrant caravans seeking to cross the US border, often saying they include criminals and violent gang members. He even suggested that they included ‘unknown Middle Easterners’, probably in an attempt to make a link to security concerns about terrorism. He also has controversially deployed thousands of US soldiers to the border with Mexico, in a move critics have lambasted as expensive and unnecessary.” [Guardian, 11/29/18]
Carson Said That People Should Look At The “Positive Aspect” Of Migrant Caravan As Proof Of “An Amazing Country.” According to the Guardian, “A Trump cabinet member is striking a tone at odds with the president’s calls to meet immigrants at the Mexico border with force and demands that Congress fund a border wall. Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development and Trump’s only black cabinet appointee, delivered a speech to conservative state lawmakers reframing the issue. ‘We’ve created an amazing country. I mean, where else in the world do you see caravans of people trying to get into the country? Sometimes we should maybe look at the positive aspect of some of the things going on,’ Carson said, according to a video of his speech.” [Guardian, 11/29/18]