Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Wednesday rejected claims that President Donald Trump and his comments about four Democratic freshman congresswomen are racist.
"I have an advantage of knowing the president very well," Carson told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "He's not a racist and his comments are not racist, but he loves the country very much and, you know, he has a feeling that those who represent the country should love it as well."
He added that Trump's policies have resulted in minorities being lifted out of poverty through expanded work opportunities, and said a racist would not be interested in helping minority communities.
Carson also on the program discussed the "opportunity zones" program, which aims to make it easier for investors to take advantage of tax breaks to help benefit low-income communities.
He also said he rejects the idea of victimhood, pointing to his own situation to show how people can overcome poverty situations to become successful.
"I have to look at my own situation, born and growing up in dire poverty with a lot of negativity around me, but also, recognizing that I lived in a place where, you know, through the help of my mother, who helped me to realize that I wasn't a victim, that I had access to all kinds of things," said Carson.
He noted that he was able to go on and become a neurosurgeon and then a cabinet member. "These are things that we want people to recognize in our nation and that's why we want to create opportunities for them," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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