7 Times Carson Did More Harm Than Good For Trump

Much has been written of the surreal friendship (friendship?) between Ben Carson and Donald Trump. The whole thing is tinted by so many layers of politics that we’ll probably never really know how they actually feel about each other, but one thing remains clear: During the GOP race, and especially since dropping out and endorsing him, Carson has said a whole load of, shall we say, interesting stuff about Trump. It’s as if he opens his mouth to say nice things, and then a series of questionable and/or horrible things comes out instead. The best part is that Carson often seems to be the most surprised of all by what he manages to say, at least by the evidence of the slightly befuddled expression that often appears on his face.

For his part, Trump has compared Carson to a child molester — but, you know, that’s all in good fun, according to Carson. Trump has actually attacked Carson on pretty much every facet of his being, so I can only hope that Carson’s recent string of praise, if you can call it that, is actually his secret plan to get revenge while still seeming like his same old bewildered but comparatively harmless self. Maybe Carson is getting the last laugh, as he plays dumb and throws Trump under the bus? As evidence, here follow seven of Carson’s most damning compliments to The Donald. Observe:

1. When Carson Defended Trump's Abortion Punishment For Women

Carson did a less than bang-up job defending Trump's claim that women who sought abortions should be punished if the procedure is banned. “Well, bear in mind, I don’t believe that he was warned that that question was coming, and I don’t think he had a chance to really think about it," Carson told CNN's Erin Burnett. "That happens very frequently. And, you know, what you develop with experience is how to answer that in a way that is not definitive. You know how politicians are. He hasn’t really learned that because he’s not a politician.”

You can see what Carson’s going for here, but he said it so poorly that all anyone took away from this was a future in which Trump complains that he wasn’t warned a terrorist attack/school shooting/hurricane was coming.

2. When Carson Made It Very Clear Trump Wasn't His First Choice

Who could forget the time when Carson admitted that he felt Trump was more of a practical choice, if not his first choice:

Carson said the following about his endorsement of Trump during a phone interview on Newsmax TV:

I have to look at what is practical. I didn’t see a path for Kasich, who I like, or for Rubio, who I like … so I have to look at what is practical. Is there another scenario that I would have preferred? Yes, but that scenario isn’t available.

Then comes the kicker, where Carson says he’ll doing things for Trump in “an advisory capacity.” Also, he pronounced Kasich’s name “kay-sitch.”

3. When Carson Said There Are "Probably" Better Choices Than Trump

Yup, those are Carson's words — not mine. The footage is amazing. CNN's John Berman was actually reading Carson’s own statement back to him — “Even if Trump’s a bad president, it’ll only be four years … are there better people? Probably” — and asking him to respond. Carson could have clarified or backed away or taken a moment to say how awesome Trump is, but instead, he simply took the longest pause in the world and blessed us with this:

I don’t think you have to really think about that. Doesn’t matter what you’re doing, there are better people than me at neurosurgery. There are better people than you at being a broadcaster. You know, there are better people at everything. But what we have to do is we have to utilize what we have, we have to make the best of what we have to improve it to the point where it is capable of being successful, that’s what we should do in every field and in every endeavor … I don’t think that [naming an alternative] is a useful place to go, but it’s an obvious statement, just like I would say, if you drop a brick off of a building, it’s going to fall.

The best part of this video is you can see Berman trying really, really hard to keep a straight face.

And a bonus quote from the same interview:

Does it mean that he’s perfect? No. He has some major defects, there’s no question about it, but I think he is willing to listen to other people. He may not say that publicly because there is a humility issue there that could perhaps use some polishing.

4. When Carson More or Less Called Trump Two-Faced

“There are two different Donald Trumps," Carson said, presumably because he thought voters would consider being two-faced a strong attribute? "There’s the one you see on the stage and there’s the one who’s very cerebral, sits there and considers things very carefully." I'm not sure he meant this as a backhanded compliment, but it's a pretty good one.

The kicker: That was Carson’s official endorsement of the guy.

5. When Carson Said He'd Support Someone Other Than Trump

Carson was asked to defend the “probably” better choices remark on MSNBC's Morning Joe. The conversation then turned to whether Carson’s endorsement of Trump would endure in the event of a contested convention.

“Of the people who are running, I believe he is the best one to be able to resolve the issues. Now, if we end up with a contested convention, and things work out in a different way, and it seems fair, then of course, you’re gonna support whoever the nominee is,” Carson said.

Things get really strange shortly thereafter when, after tossing around names of hypothetical nominees, Carson said a contested convention, especially if the nominee was someone who hadn’t been campaigning for the last year, would be a disaster for Republicans.

Mika Brzezinski: So, wouldn’t that be the time that you need to stick with your candidate and hold things together?

Carson: I don’t think I've said anything that would indicate I’m not sticking with him

Mika Brzezinski: I thought you just did. I thought you actually did say that.

Carson: No.

6. When Carson Reminded Us All Of Trump's Tolerance For Employee Violence

As you can see from the transcript of his interview with CNN's John Berman, Carson managed to make the Corey Lewandowski situation even worse for the Trump campaign. I'm just gonna let this one speak for itself.

7. When Carson Said Trump's Racism Wasn't That Big Of A Deal

Carson decided to pay a visit to ABC's The View to help out his buddy. When Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that Trump frequently exhibits sexist and racist behavior, Carson's response was less than satisfying, by even the lowest of standards. “There’s no perfect person,” he first said. Then, we eventually arrived at this gem of an exchange:

Whoopi Goldberg: “He’s a racist.”

Carson: “What’s the alternative?”

Images: CNN