Donald Trump has a Ben Carson problem.
The former presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon has endorsed the billionaire Republican front-runner. But Carson’s media appearances supporting Trump have been widely panned. Carson has been described as being the “worst surrogate ever” after the repeated missteps.
It started in an interview with “The View” when Carson struggled to explain his Trump endorsement and offered only a lukewarm defense when the reality TV star was accused of racism. He also disavowed Trump’s tweets about Heidi Cruz.
In later interviews, Carson described Trump’s poll numbers as horrible. He’s suggested Trump read the Bible and pray more. He’s commented on Trump’s Twitter habits.
Tim Miller, an anti-Trump Republican operative who formerly worked for Jeb Bush’s campaign tweeted, “Is it possible that Ben Carson is secretly with us and is sabatoging Trump from the inside?”
The Washington Examiner asked Republicans who might know what exactly does explain Carson’s unusual approach.
“He’s a very smart man. He just doesn’t put in the time or the preparation,” said Doug Watts, who served as Carson’s communications director prior to resigning in December. “He doesn’t walk into an interview or a TV appearance or a sit down with a reporter and mentally prepare for it in the same way he would for a surgery — a small surgery, a large surgery — you have to mentally prepare for it and he just doesn’t.”
Over the past month, Carson has been all over the media scene, giving multiple interviews to cable news shows and remaining readily accessible to reporters. That hasn’t always been to Trump’s benefit, however.
“This is a guy who was beloved and everybody thought he’d be a great surrogate,” said Rick Wilson, a GOP strategist opposed to Trump. “Everybody thought people loved Ben Carson … fthis sort of angelic character in the GOP who had this wholesome reputation and nature, and everyone thought, ‘man, what a great get for Donald Trump. This is a guy that’s really going to help him soften and reach audiences.'”
“But it turned out that there was some crazy in Ben Carson that people were overlooking, and that that quiet asset was masking the fact that he’s a terrible politician,” Wilson said, noting further that “great candidates make great surrogates.”
Presidential campaigns over the past decade have had their surrogate issues, with some Democrats (including former President Bill Clinton) praising Mitt Romney’s business record and Carly Fiorina saying in 2008 that Sarah Palin wasn’t qualified to run a major corporation.
But none were as consistently off message as Carson has been. Most recently, Carson told a radio show that he would also be part of the #NeverTrump movement if the stakes of the election weren’t so high.
“The first and foremost principle [of being a good surrogate] is to be fully dedicated to your candidates message and not your own,” said Brett O’Donnell, who served as director of messaging for Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid in 2008. “When you become a surrogate, you are literally becoming a mouthpiece for the candidate-that-you-are-representing’s message. If you are unwilling to do that or incapable of doing that, you become a bad surrogate.”
“I think that’s part of what’s happened with Dr. Carson, and it’s apparent that he’s not committed fully to Donald Trump’s message or that he is not incredibly capable of delivering that message, and that’s caused some of the problems he’s had in media interviews,” O’Donnell added.
However, Carson backers defend the former presidential candidate, who dropped out after Super Tuesday. Longtime adviser and business manager Armstrong Williams told the Examiner Tuesday that he wasn’t worried about Carson’s recent remarks.
“As far as I’m concerned he’s stumping for America,” Williams said. “The bottom line is this, it wouldn’t have mattered who he would have endorsed … there would have been a backlash.”
“What’s wrong with honesty? There are a lot of people that feel that way,” Williams said referring to the comments about anti-Trump activism. “All Dr. Carson is doing is showing respect for the will of the people … [saying] it may not be my first choice, but I’m willing to carry out the will of the people. If the people were not behind Donald Trump, Dr. Carson would be elsewhere.”
