Former HUD secretary Ben Carson claims Donald Trump is “not a highly vindictive person” in a recent CNN interview earning strong pushback from host Abby Phillip.
In the interview, Phillip asked Carson whether he would support Trump targeting Joe Biden or other political rivals if he wins the 2024 presidential election.
“I think in his speech yesterday, or the day before, that he took a more conciliatory turn and recognizes that the problems that face us right now are enormous, and we could spend a lot of time going after people, or we could address those problems,” Carson said. “I think we’ve already seen that President Trump is not a highly vindictive individual, in that he didn’t go after Hillary after he was elected in 2016.”
“You’re saying President Trump is not a highly vindictive person? He’s literally pledged to prosecute Joe Biden, he said he would do that. He said he would go after people who wronged him,” Phillip noted.
Carson told Phillip he has a “tendency to look and see what people do, not so much what they say particularly in the heat of a political environment.”
“Trump, Dr. Carson, talks about getting revenge almost every day on social media. I mean really, just days ago,” Phillip pointed out. “Should voters not take that seriously? Should voters have to wait until he’s actually president to find out if that’s going to happen?”
Carson claimed Trump would be too busy to have “time to be vindictive.”
“He said he’s not going to have time to be a dictator, which is an interesting thing to say,” Phillip said.
“I said ‘to be vindictive,’ ” Carson said.
“To be vindictive, as well. Dr. Ben Carson, thank you,” Phillip replied.
Trump has repeatedly promised to go after his political rivals if he is re-elected in November. Last month, the former president shared the results of a survey on his social media account bragging about “revenge” and “dictatorship” being the top of voters’ minds when thinking about his second term. He has also repeatedly threatened to weaponize his justice department against Joe Biden and other opponents.
