President-elect’s former rival for Republican presidential nomination says he can help in ‘making our inner cities great for everyone’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Donald Trump has nominated former opponent Ben Carson as his secretary of housing and urban development.



In a statement from his transition team on Monday, Trump said he was “thrilled to nominate” Carson, saying the retired neurosurgeon had “a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities”.

“Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans,” he added.

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Carson responded to the announcement with a brief statement accepting Trump’s nomination.



“I am honored and look forward to working hard on behalf of the American people,” he wrote.



Carson had previously taken himself out of the running to serve in Trump’s cabinet amid speculation that the former doctor was being considered to head the Department of Health and Human Services. A Carson spokesperson said he did not feel he had the experience to run a federal agency and did not want to assume a role “that could cripple the presidency”.



But Carson signalled his thinking had changed in a Facebook post late last month, in which he hinted at a possible position at the federal agency tasked with overseeing America’s fair housing laws and urban development policies.

“After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone,” Carson wrote in the post on 23 November. “We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid.”

Republicans praised Carson’s personal attributes but were relatively muted in response to Trump’s decision to place an outsider at the helm of one of the nation’s top agencies.



“We appreciate Dr Carson’s willingness to take on such a challenging task at an agency that is in need of reform to better serve all Americans,” Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, said in a statement. “I’m confident his life-long career of selfless service will be a positive addition to the incoming administration.”

Democrats, by contrast, assailed the retired neurosurgeon as wholly unqualified for the role.



“Dr Ben Carson is a disconcerting and disturbingly unqualified choice to lead a department as complex and consequential as Housing and Urban Development,” said Nancy Pelosi, who was recently re-elected as the Democrats’ leader in the House of Representatives, in a statement.

“There is no evidence that Dr Carson brings the necessary credentials to hold a position with such immense responsibilities and impact on families and communities across America.”

Charles Schumer, the incoming Democratic leader in the Senate, said he had serious concerns about Carson’s lack of expertise and experience in the field of housing. “Someone who is as anti-government as him is a strange fit for housing secretary, to say the least,” he said. “As he moves through the confirmation process, Americans deserve to know that their potential HUD secretary is well versed in housing policy and has a vision for federal housing programs that meets the needs of Americans across the country and seeks to provide access to those that we haven’t reached already.”

The largest civil rights organization for LGBTQ individuals also sounded alarm over Carson’s nomination, pointing to his steadfast opposition to gay equality.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said past comments by Carson referring to homosexuality as “a choice” and support for conversion therapy raised serious concerns over how HUD would address the housing needs of the LGBTQ community, while citing research showing that LGBTQ youth account for up to 40% of the total unaccompanied homeless youth population.

“Throughout his failed presidential campaign, Carson ran on a platform on inequality, and, if nominated, his hateful views could have disastrous effects on LGBTQ people,” said HRC president Chad Griffin.

“As a community already faced with housing insecurity, we need an ally, not an agitator, who will protect every American’s right to a safe place to lie down each night.”

Carson and Trump feuded bitterly during the Republican presidential primaries, with Trump at one point characterizing Carson as having a “pathological temper” akin to the illness of a child molester.

But Carson endorsed Trump in March, saying the two men had “buried the hatchet”, and went on to be one of the real estate mogul’s most loyal supporters for the duration of the election campaign.



Trump’s decision to tap Carson as the housing and urban development (HUD) secretary followed his announcement nominating the South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, as ambassador to the United Nations, and Elaine Chao as transportation secretary. Haley, Chao and Carson are the first people of color chosen by Trump to serve in his cabinet.