Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at the National Sheriffs' Association presidential forum, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Ben Carson on Donald Trump: Don't let P.C. culture win
The uproar over reality TV star Donald Trump saying that Mexican immigrants are rapists and drug dealers is the result of politically correct or "P.C." culture run amok, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said this week.
"It's the P.C. police out in force," the 2016 Republican presidential candidate said Monday in an interview with the Daily Caller. "They want to make very clear that this is a topic you're not supposed to bring up."
Trump announced in June that he would run for president in 2016. During his campaign launch, the real estate mogul and TV personality vowed to address America's illegal immigration problem, promising to build a wall on the southern border. He also accused Mexico of dumping its degenerates and rejects onto American soil.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best; they're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us," he said. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
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Trump's remarks were met with immediate pushback. Several businesses, including NBCUniversal, Univision and Macy's, announced after his campaign launch that they'd no longer do business with him.
But Carson said Monday that Trump's critics need to stop worrying about offending others and focus on the bigger picture.
"What we really need to be talking about is how do we take care of our illegal immigration problem," he said. "I've talked about that extensively. And the key thing is we have to secure all our borders — north, south, east and west."
"And it doesn't have to be a fence or wall," he added. "That's stupid. We have all kinds of electronic surveillance devices, drones, not to mention people. So we can do it. And then turn off the spigot that dispenses all the things that they are coming here to get. Then there won't be any reason for them to do it."
Carson's apparent defense of Trump followed similar efforts from Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and fellow Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
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"I mean that's pretty simple, and straightforward," Carson continued. "And I think everybody knows that. That's there's the ability to do it, there's not the will to do it. It's too juicy a political football."
The majority of the 2016 GOP field, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have blasted Trump's comments.
Trump has stood by his comments, and in doing so, has cited a Fusion report alleging, "80 percent of Central American girls and women crossing Mexico en route to the United States are raped along the way." That study, however, didn't clarify what portion of those rapes were perpetrated by illegal immigrants, or by others as the women and girls were making their way to the border.
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