Pretty much the only person showing interest in Ben Carson as the Republican vice presidential nominee is the one whose opinion matters most: Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and former housing secretary in Mr. Trump’s administration, is considered one of “many people who would do a really fantastic job,” the former president told a local New York reporter last month.
Last week, Mr. Trump again emphasized the possibility of running with Mr. Carson, saying on Newsmax that he was among “a lot of great people.”
And behind closed doors, Mr. Trump has spoken warmly about Mr. Carson, reflecting a strange political friendship between the belligerent Republican leader and the mild-mannered doctor who ran against him in 2016.
That personal connection, which has deepened over the years, is why Mr. Carson remains considered a potential candidate to be Mr. Trump’s running mate, even as the race shows signs of being down to just a few front-runners, including Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio and JD Vance.
Few people close to the former president give Mr. Carson much chance of being elected. But given Mr. Trump’s unconventional approach and his history of last-minute decisions, an upset is possible — and in the vast universe of unlikely choices where he might still pull it off, Mr. Carson is likely the leading contender.
For his part, Mr. Carson said during a CNN interview last month that if he were asked to join the ticket, he would “prayerfully consider it.”
“Trump has this amazing ability to speak directly to people’s hearts and minds without any filter or political correctness,” Carson said.
Still, their relationship was complicated at times. During Mr. Trump’s criminal trial in New York, one of his former White House advisers, Hope Hicks, testified that he thanked the editor of The National Enquirer for a 2015 story that claimed Mr. Carson had one Leaving a sponge in a patient’s brain. “This is Pulitzer-worthy,” Ms. Hicks said, recalling Mr. Trump’s words.
“My advice to Dr. Carson would be to not be his vice president,” Armstrong Williams, a Carson adviser, said in an interview, suggesting the job could be stressful. “But when he sees that his friend has a difficult path ahead of him, he will do everything he can to make this journey and this process easier for him.”
For Mr. Trump’s close allies, the case against Mr. Carson is pretty clear.
He turns 73 in September, which isn’t helpful in a year when voters are worried about the advanced ages of the two major presidential candidates.
Mr. Carson is also a fellow Floridian — he and Mr. Trump both live in Palm Beach County — and Mr. Trump is concerned about a constitutional provision that would pose a barrier to a presidential run with two candidates from the same state. (Mr. Carson also spends much of his time in Virginia, Mr. Williams said.)
During Mr. Carson’s first foray into public service, when he served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Trump administration, he was often surrounded by scandal.
That rocky tenure, coupled with his penchant for completely eccentric statements, appears to be undermining Mr. Trump’s current preference for disciplined campaigners, who pose little risk of unwanted distractions in a campaign where excess is at stake. (Mr. Carson has equated Obamacare with slavery and suggested that sexuality is a choice, referring to criminals who “just go to prison, and when they come out, they’re gay.”)
But Mr. Trump was intrigued by the idea of adding a Black man to his presidential candidacy to boost his gains among Black male voters, according to three people familiar with the process. He has also talked about selecting Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the chamber, and Rep. Byron Donalds, the only Black Republican in Florida’s congressional delegation.
Mr. Trump has talked about announcing his pick before the Republican National Convention in mid-July or possibly even during the event. That leaves him more than a month to dither about the candidates, potentially creating the possibility of an unconventional election.
He also seems to really like Mr. Carson. Their friendship is as real as it is confusing, according to people close to both men.
For Mr. Carson, the beginning of his friendship with Mr. Trump was the few minutes of painfully awkward telecasting during a 2016 Republican primary debate when he was introduced to the audience but stopped and waited just backstage instead of walking to his podium. Mr. Trump followed suit and also stood, although other competitors quickly passed the two men.
Mr. Carson viewed Mr. Trump’s decision to quit not as shared confusion but as camaraderie, Mr. Williams said.
Mr. Carson, who has campaigned for Mr. Trump this campaign, has recently raised his public profile through a series of television interviews that doubled as a marketing opportunity for his new book, “The Perilous Fight.” The book, published last month, lays out his views on integrating biblical family beliefs into American culture.
Mr. Trump has spoken fondly of awkward moments with Mr. Carson.
During a speech in February at the Black Conservative Federation gala in South Carolina, Mr. Trump recalled feeling “a little nervous” during the 2016 campaign about Carson’s rise in the polls. But Mr. Trump said he was reassured by Mr. Carson, recalling that his rival had told him before another primary debate: “You have nothing to worry about.” God put you in this position. You will win.”
“I was confused because I’m ready to go into a debate stage – and he’s doing it so well and he made that statement,” Trump said in South Carolina, adding: “He’s been a great friend of mine.”
Taylor Robinson contributed reporting from New York.
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2024-06-12 09:05:14
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