Donald Trump will likely "fight fire with fire" while battling Hillary Clinton or "whoever the nominee happens to be on the Democratic side," former GOP candidate Ben Carson said Wednesday.
The former GOP presidential candidate added he expects Trump to gain the evangelical vote, as the community "realizes we're not choosing the preacher-in-chief, we're looking for the commander-in-chief."
"A lot of people had derived their impressions from the media, from third parties and this was an opportunity for them to sit face-to-face with Donald Trump, hear his heart, he had an opportunity to hear their hearts," Carson, who participated on Tuesday in meetings between Trump and Christian leaders, told MSNBC's
"Morning Joe" program.
And Carson, answering a question from show host Joe Scarborough about whether there's a conflict between how Trump has conducted his campaign and "Jesus' teachings" on being meek and judgmental, replied that he thinks there is an "inconsistency between the teachings of Jesus and everybody in the political arena, don't just pick on Donald Trump."
But in modern society, Carson noted, trying to stick to the issues rather than waging attacks doesn't always work.
"I adopted the policy of trying to stick to the issues, not attacking and demonizing other people," Carson said. "It only gets you so far in our society. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't continue to try to move to a higher plain, but we have to deal with reality. This is where we are as a society. We like to see carnage."
He continued that there is no question that Trump will "fight fire with fire," as that is "probably is going to be more advantageous to him politically to fight than to simply talk only about uplifting things."
"We're all interested in seeing everybody be more civil," said Carson. "Again, I don't want to make it just about Donald Trump. This is a problem that permeates our entire political system and we should — and particularly you guys in the media should be encouraging people to be more civil rather than, you know, focusing on the fights and the carnage. "
The race, said Carson, is "about something so much bigger than Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. This is about America."
At the same time, the evangelical community wants a "commander-in-chief who understands the importance, for instance, of the first amendment and not penalizing people for living according to their faith," said Carson.
"They want a commander in chief who understands the sanctity of life, who understands the importance of the family and how the family is the basic unit for a strong society. So those are the kinds of things that they're really looking for, not necessarily somebody who can quote verse and chapter of the Bible."
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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