Ben Carson defended Donald Trump’s recent comments about Bill Clinton being involved in “rape” and Hillary Clinton being an “enabler” of the former president’s improprieties.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Carson argued that Trump’s Wednesday attack on Bill Clinton was part of him educating younger voters who aren’t fully aware of his past. He also said that while it wasn’t what he would have done as a candidate, it’s a “very strange election cycle,” noting that what he did in his campaign are “not the things that win.”
“You have to recognize that there are a lot of young people who are voting who don’t know any of that backstory,” Carson told the Examiner. “His thinking is probably that it’s probably good for people to know the full story and not just what is filtered through the media.”
“Is it what I would generally do? No, it’s not what I would generally do,” Carson continued. “But you have to recognize we are in a very strange election cycle. The things that I would do are not the things that win. You have to be realistic about that.”
However, the former neurosurgeon did lament the state of American politics. Throughout his presidential campaign, Carson decided against leveling personal attacks on his fellow candidates, even after Trump called him a “pathological liar” and likened his compulsions to those of a child molester.
“If we just accept it, it only keeps getting more corrupt and more nasty,” Carson said, adding later on “I generally don’t find it useful to attack fellow people.”
Over the past week, the real estate mogul has leveled more personal attacks against the former president. After saying Clinton was involved in “rape” during an interview with Fox News, Trump wondered earlier Friday morning if the 42nd president would be bringing his “energizer” mistress to the White House if his wife is elected.
When pressed about the comments Thursday, the former secretary of state said that she doesn’t feel “compelled” to defend her or her husband from Trump’s attacks, adding that Trump can “say whatever he wants to say.”
For his part, Carson has largely defended the presumptive GOP nominee since endorsing him in early March soon after he ended his presidential bid. Carson has also worn multiple hats as Trump wades his way through the vice presidential selection process, having early on been one of his advisors on the matter before taking himself out of the process altogether.
