Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stated that fellow Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson’s story about his violent past and subsequent redemption has “something very strange in it” adding, “You don’t get better. You know what makes you better? Pills make you about better” and “Do you think that’s the right temperament to be president? I don’t think so” in an interview broadcast on Friday’s “O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel.
Trump stated, [relevant exchange begins around 2:25] “if you think about what Carson’s saying, he hit his mother over the head with a hammer. He hit a friend in the face with a lock. He tried to kill somebody with a knife, and he said he suffers from pathological disease, okay? When you suffer from pathological disease, you’re not really getting better unless you start taking lots of pills and things.”
After host Bill O’Reilly protested, “He was a kid.” Trump responded, “Well, and then he went into a bathroom, and all of a sudden he found religion. Uh, okay.”
After O’Reilly again said Carson was a kid, Trump stated, “I’m surprised you’re so gullible.”
Trump continued, “He’s trying to prove that he did it, in order to have credibility. Who would want to prove this?”
O’Reilly against pointed out that Carson was a kid when these occurred, Trump said, “I never hit my mother over the head, believe me, and you didn’t either, Bill.”
O’Reilly responded that Carson is trying to tell a redemption story, Trump asked him if he had ever hit his mother. After O’Reilly said he hadn’t, Trump said, “There’s something very strange here. Something very strange is going on.”
Trump further stated, “Well, I don’t think it’s small ball if you have somebody that admits that he suffers from pathological disease.”
O’Reilly again pointed to Carson’s age when the incidents occurred, to which Trump said, “I don’t care. You don’t get better. You don’t get better. You know what makes you better? Pills make you about better.”
Trump also said, “If it’s in your stream, it’s in your stream, though Bill. You know, they talk about temperament. Do you think that’s the right temperament to be president? I don’t think so.”
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