Carson Claims Trump Comments Were Not Racist

18 July 2019 | US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson defended President Donald Trump after some comments he made this week were widely condemned as racist.

Trump targeted a small group of congresswoman of color known as “The Squad,” which includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

Among other comments, Trump tweeted that since the congresswomen critiqued the US so strongly they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Only one member of “The Squad” was born outside the United States.

“I have an advantage of knowing the president very well, and he’s not a racist,” Carson, an Adventist former neurosurgeon told Fox News on Wednesday while addressing Trump’s series of recent remarks, “His comments are not racist, but he loves the country very much. And he has a feeling that those who represent the country should love it as well.”

Carson claimed that Trump’s progress on minority unemployment and his work to “elevate those who are vulnerable” were more important than what he said.

“I think you can see what the president means by looking at his accomplishments,” Carson said. “Look at his policies. Under this president you see the rising tide lifting all boats. You see low unemployment — record low — for blacks, for Hispanics, for all the demographics of our nation.

“When you have somebody spending this much time and this much effort trying to elevate those who are vulnerable and who are suffering in our society, I think we should pay a lot more attention to what they are doing than what anybody is saying,” said Carson.