Housing Secretary Ben Carson Addresses Trump’s Tweets and Racism Allegations

Housing Secretary Ben Carson Addresses Trump’s Tweets and Racism Allegations
Dr. Ben Carson attends the DC premiere of the film, "Death of a Nation," at E Street Cinema in Washington, DC on Aug. 1, 2018. (Shannon Finney/Getty Images)

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was asked if the president’s recent volley of tweets directed primarily at four far-left Democrat congresswomen—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—can be considered racist. The tweets have sparked debate among those in Congress seeking to condemn his tweets, and support from those who agree with them.

“I have an advantage of knowing the president very well,” Carson told Fox News, “and he’s not a racist and his comments are not racist, but he loves the country very much and, you know, he has a feeling that those who represent the country should love it as well.”

Carson talked about how the president’s accomplishments make clear that he is not excluding any person due to their race. Carson brought up the historic employment numbers for blacks, Hispanics, and other groups. He also mentioned other efforts by the Trump administration for investment in urban communities and access to affordable housing.

“So when you have somebody who is 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,” Carson told Fox.

Carson was formerly a Republican presidential candidate in 2016 competing against Trump before he was picked for secretary of housing and urban development (HUD). He was being asked about a series of tweets by the president which many media outlets and some members of Congress labeled as “racist.”

The tweets themselves do not mention any specific race or country.

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!” Trump wrote in a series of tweets, on July 14.

After the tweets, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to pass a resolution to condemn them, calling them “racist.” Representative Doug Collins interjected “I was just going to give the gentle speaker of the House, if she would like to rephrase that comment?”

Pelosi said she had cleared her remarks with the necessary parties.

“I ask that her words be taken down,” Collins insisted. “I make a point of order that the gentlewoman’s words are unparliamentary and request they be taken down.”

After a review of Pelosi’s language in condemning the president, which took over an hour, presiding member Representative Emanuel Cleaver II was not happy, as Roll Call reported.

“I came in here to try to do this in a fair way. I kept warning both sides let’s not do this, hoping we could get through,” Cleaver said. “We don’t ever, ever, want to pass up an opportunity, it seems, to escalate. And that’s what this is. I dare anybody to look at any of the footage and see if there was any unfairness, but unfairness is not enough because we want to just fight.

“I abandon the chair,” he said.

Cleaver then dropped his gavel and walked away, an unprecedented move.

The four congresswomen, who have recently been called the “squad,” responded to Trump’s tweets, and the media firestorm that erupted, in a press conference, as captured in video from MSNBC.

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