The Patriot Post® · Decency Out the Window: Carson Endorses Trump

Donald Trump has, on more than one occasion, accused Ben Carson of being asleep during the debates. Apparently Trump was right. Carson, a nice guy but political neophyte, today endorsed Trump, who he called an “intelligent man who cares deeply about America.” Typically, though, Carson’s endorsement was somewhat convoluted: “There are two different Donald Trumps. There’s the one you see on the stage, and there’s the one who is very cerebral, sits there and considers things very carefully — you can have a very good conversation with him.” So Trump is two-faced and that’s an asset?

If Carson wants a shot at being involved in the next administration, we guess he has to set aside every ounce of integrity he established during the course of this primary campaign cycle. We’ve said before: He’d make a good surgeon general. But Carson might be angling to become Trump’s education czar, as the two met Thursday and discussed education in America. “He has such a great handle on it,” Trump said during the debate. “I’m going to have Ben very involved with education, something that’s an expertise of his.”

In November, Trump turned his caustic rhetoric against Carson. In response to Carson’s admission that he had long ago tried to stab a friend, Trump compared him to a child molester. “He’s got a pathological temper,” Trump said. “That’s a big problem, because you don’t cure that. … As an example, child molesting. You don’t cure these people. You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that.”

“We buried the hatchet,” Carson said. “That was political stuff and that happens in American politics.” That may speak volumes of his personal charity and compassion, but not his judgment in selecting a presidential candidate.

Both Trump and Carson developed a following through appealing to voters who didn’t want another politician in the White House. Carson, though, appealed to value voters attracted to his quiet personality. The boorish and loud Trump is his antithesis. Even if Carson endorses Trump, just how many of his supporters will follow with their votes? It’s unlikely that Trump’s antiestablishmentarianism outweighs the concerns more than one Carson voter has about his morality.