Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson announced Wednesday in an interview he does not think President Donald Trump or his tweets about four progressive Democrats over the weekend are racist.
“I have an advantage of knowing the president very well and he’s not a racist,” Carson told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “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, who is Trump’s only black Cabinet member, pointed to Trump’s “accomplishments” when asked about Trump’s tweets.
“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 anyone is saying,” he added.
Many lawmakers have chastised Trump after he penned several Sunday tweets telling a group of progressive Democrat lawmakers to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came” before coming back to show the U.S. “how it is done.”
Although Trump did not mention these congresswomen by name, his remarks caused many to point out the four members of Congress who had been disagreeing about whether to fund border security.
The remarks came after Pelosi and four progressive freshman House Democrats— Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)— had been disagreeing about whether to vote against an emergency spending bill that would fund border security which Pelosi backed.
All the congresswomen are U.S.-born citizens except for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, the Associated Press reported.
Trump’s comments evoked swift condemnation and criticism from many on the left, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN), leading the House to pass a resolution condemning Trump’s remarks.
But others came to Trump’s defense, including Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA), who said Trump’s remarks were not racist and voted against a Democrat-backed measure to condemn Trump’s racist tweets.