Retired Neurosurgeon Becomes Latest in Long Line of Unqualified or Unacceptable Trump Picks
Dr. Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and former opponent-turned-endorser of Donald Trump, is the president-elect’s nominee to become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Carson become the latest pick who clearly has zero experience for the role, provoking charges among critics that Trump is using his election to pay back favors as he surrounds himself not with “the best people” as he promised but with the people he knows.
“I am thrilled to nominate Dr. Ben Carson as our next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities,†Trump said in a statement Monday, as The Washington Post first reported.
Carson, through his spokesman, last month had first announced he would not be accepting any role within the administration, admitting he was unqualified to run a federal government department. But two weeks ago he then hinted at the HUD nomination, stating an “announcement is forthcoming about my role in helping to make America great again.”
He noted he intends to help make America’s “inner cities” great again, by “ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid.”
Carson has no experience that comes close to running a $32 billion federal agency that employs 8500 people and is responsible for setting and enforcing policy across a wide swath of issues, including nondiscrimination against minorities. Notably, spirituality is not included in the job description.
Predictably, as new broke of the announcement Monday morning, Twitter exploded in anger and mockery.
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