Ben Carson Praises Trump: 'I Urge America to Re-Elect My Friend'

One day before the election, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson penned an op-ed praising President Donald Trump for his work with the African-American community, urging Americans to “reelect my friend.”

The op-ed, titled Dr. Ben Carson: I knew Donald Trump before politics. I urge America to reelect my friend, was released Monday and published for USA Today.

“It was near the end of the 2016 primary season,” Carson wrote. “My campaign had suffered a loss after the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, and I knew in the coming days that the Lord was leading me to step aside in favor of Donald J. Trump.”

Carson also discussed in the piece an interaction he and the president had shared during the 2016 Republican primaries when Carson predicted a Trump victory. Carson wrote:

Donald and I were friends before the campaign season had started.

Why did I favor my friend?

I was optimistic about the future of our country based on what I had seen on the campaign trail. The evening of the last debate, I approached my fellow candidate and said, “Donald, you’re going to be the next president of the United States.”

Donald looked back at me and said, “Why do you think so, Ben?”

“Because God is not done with our country, and because the American people haven’t given up on it either,” I replied.

Carson credited his successes to his mother and “his faith in God” as he detailed his growing up “in poverty.”

“During my childhood, the African American community faced an uphill battle in our efforts to truly be treated equally. However, even against all the odds, I went on to graduate from Yale University and eventually become a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University, and performing unprecedented life-saving procedures on infants,” Carson wrote.

“I was able to achieve success through hard work, and most importantly, my faith in God,” he continued.

“In America today, the educational opportunities and job prospects made available to the everyday American are far greater than when I was a child or young adult, especially for the Black community,” he added.

Carson then launched into a discussion of how Trump and “his administration have only expanded those opportunities.”

“Before the pandemic hit, African American unemployment was at an all-time low, jobs were plentiful and the economy was booming,” the well-established surgeon stated. “This doesn’t just happen out of thin air or due to empty speeches by former politicians.”

“It happens through brave leadership,” he stated. “It happens because we have a leader with courage who stands up to give a voice to those who have been forgotten for far too long. It happens because we have a strong leader who takes decisive action when others before him only made empty promises.”

“Trump is that courageous leader who keeps his promises — economic prosperity, religious freedom, and common sense in the courts,” Carson concluded, highlighting Trump’s record with the black community, saying he “focused on historically black colleges and universities, achieved prison reform, and prioritized investment in vulnerable neighborhoods.”

“Trump isn’t a politician — we certainly know exactly what he’s thinking, which makes him highly effective for the American people, and a threat to the Washington swamp,” Carson wrote. “Americans deserve freedom — meaning reduced government regulation, a less biased media, and more opportunity for prosperity.”

“A vote for Trump is a vote for freedom,” Carson concluded. “I urge you to vote for my friend, Donald J. Trump, for president of the United States of America.”