Donald Trump supporter and former presidential candidate Ben Carson said it should give Americans “a degree of comfort” that the real-estate mogul says the wrong thing and backtracks later.
The day after Trump said women should be punished for having abortions, Carson was asked this morning on Fox Business Network about Trump saying things before thinking them out.
“There is no question that he is not a politician, has not been well-schooled in political speak,” Carson said. “But what people have to understand, and I think a lot of them do understand is that you really have to give a person a chance to explain what they’re talking about and you have to look at their life.”
“And you know, it’s a combination of things. Will people say things that they may later want to clarify? Of course, particularly when they’re taken by surprise.”
Carson was empathetic. “I’ve done it — pretty much everybody does it. The people who are best at it are those who are polished politicians. They learn very quickly to listen for the buzz words, the catch phrases and what to say in order to cultivate support.”
Asked about how speaking without thinking might be a disconcerting quality for the leader of the free world, the pediatric neurosurgeon agreed, “Yeah, without question.”
“But it should also give people a degree of comfort to know that someone like him can say something that isn’t quite right, and very quickly realize it, and also listen — being willing to listen to other people who can help him reframe that,” Carson added.
The Trump campaign walked back his comments soon after he made them, saying the candidate wants punishment for abortion doctors.
Carson said many people don’t understand Trump’s values.
“And Donald Trump, like myself, is very much against political correctness and political speak. Let’s just actually talk about the issue, let’s actually put the values on the table,” he said.
“This is one of the things that many on the left don’t want to do. They’d much rather call you names than to actually sit down and discuss the issue in depth and the reason that they believe what they believe. Because very frequently, you ask them, and they don’t know what they believe.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member