Trump considering listening tour to quell racial unrest, says Ben Carson

Carson, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said ending protests that began with the death of George Floyd in police custody last week also meant examining the source of the rage.

“I think we really need to try to understand the anger, the rancor,” he told the Washington Examiner. “I probably understand it better than most people do.”

Carson said he had discussed various steps forward with the president, including both a listening tour for communities to air grievances and an offer to join a task force.

“We’ve talked about that, and I’ve offered my services,” he said. “Whatever I can do to help facilitate this.”

“The president is very interested in the forgotten men and women of this country,” Carson said. “He has been talking about this since day one.”

Another plank would be continuing the criminal justice reform efforts that produced legislation in 2018, with a focus on helping offenders find work after release.

“Those are the kinds of things that are the next step, that we really need to be thinking about, because each one of our citizens is a valuable resource,” Carson said. “We need to be thinking about how we develop them, not how we control them.”

The White House declined to comment on the proposals.

There will be opposition among some elements of Trumpworld to any hint of a softer approach. On Monday evening, Fox News host Tucker Carlson railed against the administration’s record and accused Jared Kushner in particular of pushing for more prisoners to be released.

“This is reckless,” he said. “At this moment in time, it is insane. It continues to happen.”

More than 120 cities across America have seen protests following the death of Floyd in Minneapolis last Monday. A memorial service is due to be held on Thursday, presenting another potential flashpoint as racial tension simmers.

Carson said he was shocked by the footage of the death.

“The thing that really disturbed me is the fact the police officer is acting in such a nonchalant way, with his hand in his pocket while the guy is struggling for breath, just showing no caring or compassion,” he said. “That was very, very disturbing to me, because we think that could be any of us, that could be one of our relatives or friend just being blatantly murdered in front of everybody.”

And he said he was concerned at efforts to “concoct” a story, with initial reports suggesting Floyd had died in the hospital and an official autopsy report that was at odds with one commissioned by his family.

But Carson has also condemned violent protests, and he repeatedly called on demonstrators to think before they destroy their own communities.

“And here within our HUD family, our hearts are breaking to see our regional offices vandalized and boarded up,” he wrote in a message sent to staff within his department.

“These harmful crimes being committed by rioters, not by peaceful protesters standing in solidarity for change, will not define who we are as a country. Similarly, these riots will not define George Floyd’s legacy,” he said.

This week, much of the focus has been on Trump’s response, including both his threatened use of military force and a Monday evening visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been set ablaze by protesters. Critics accused the president of using the church and a Bible for a mere photo opportunity.

But Carson said the president would have been criticized no matter what he had posed with. Lost in the controversy, he said, was that many people wanted to know their leader had not been forced from sight.

“He was trying to make the point that our country’s foundation is based on values and principles, and he couldn’t think of a better symbol than the Bible to say that,” Carson said.

“But you can’t assume that people understand, quite frankly, what you are trying to get across sometimes.”