Dr. Ben Carson, who led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under former President Trump, addressed Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) annual AmericaFest conference on Monday – warning attendees he sees a Democrat government determined to divide and pit Americans against each other. Carson, rumored to be on Trump’s short list for vice-president in 2024, spoke with TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, and walked attendees through the story of what made America not just great, but unique among the nations of the world.
The soft-spoken doctor explained America’s youth must realize: “It doesn’t matter where your ancestors came from… you’re better off here than where they came from.” He told Kirk the seeds of division sown by Democrats, race-activists, and those who deny biological reality are akin to the sorts of divisions used by communist and socialist government to divide and conquer their own people. “We are not enemies,” Dr. Carson lamented. “People are trying to divide us…” on race, age, income, gender, and politics.
Dr. Carson explained that as a child and young man he experienced first-hand racism in Chattanooga, Tennessee – going on to praise the progress and strides the country has made since. “We now have black admirals, we had a President,” Carson said, before cracking a smile and humorously noting,”…and a Vice-President, although you don’t see her!” He added, pushing back against leftist accusations American racism is as bad today as it was when he was a boy: “If this country is so bad, why are so many people trying to get in?”
As former President Donald Trump has moved closer to securing the 2024 Republican nomination for president, Dr. Carson’s name has appeared more-and-more in the press as being a potential running mate. At the end of their America Fest interview, Charlie Kirk pressed him on the possibility of serving as Vice-President with Carson demurring: “Well, let me put it this way… right now our energies need to be focused on getting Trump back in office.”