Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Tuesday Dr. Ben Carson is “absolutely qualified” to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, even though Carson himself said last month he wasn’t qualified to run a federal department.
Speaking on MSNBC Tuesday, Pence said Carson’s experience growing up in an urban environment — the former brain surgeon grew up in Detroit — would help him in the Cabinet.
“He is absolutely qualified and, more than that, he’s going to bring to life the president-elect’s mission of bringing real renewal to urban America,” Pence said.
When asked about a statement from a Carson aide in November that he didn’t feel qualified to run a federal agency because he had no government experience, Pence laughed it off as a sign of Carson’s small ego.
“He is the most humble brain surgeon I’ve ever met in my life,” he said.
Pence also denied that retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s son, who has pushed conspiratorial fake news stories on his Twitter account and serves as a top aide to his father, is playing a role in the transition.
Michael G. Flynn has a transition team email and sparred with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday about the so-called Pizzagate story, which alleges connections between the Clintons and an underage sex ring run out of a Washington, D.C. pizza shop.
That pizzeria, Comet Pizza, was the scene of an incident on Sunday where an armed man brought a gun into the restaurant and fired a shot while “investigating” the conspiracy theory.
The incoming national security adviser and his son have both been under fire for promoting fake news stories on their Twitter accounts, but Pence said it has no impact on the transition.
“Gen. Flynn’s son has no involvement in the transition whatsoever,” Pence said.
He said Trump’s national security team will suffer no ill effects from having Flynn heavily involved, and said the nomination of Gen. James Mattis as secretary of defense will be a coup for the president-elect.
Pence said Mattis will be formally announced as Trump’s selection Tuesday, after Trump announced the appointment last week, and he’ll be a strong voice.
“He’s going to be at the table and going to bring that extraordinary leadership,” Pence said.
