Donald Trump supporter Ben Carson defended campaign manager Corey Lewandowski during a CNN interview on Thursday by arguing that being charged with assault did not make him “evil.”

Carson told CNN host Kate Bolduan that charges against Lewandowski for allegedly assaulting a female reporter did not disqualify him from running the Trump campaign.

“I don’t see any reason, quite frankly that we should demonize him,” the former neurosurgeon opined. “If you can come up with a good reason, I’ll listen to it.”

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“Well, look, he’s been charged with misdemeanor assault,” co-host John Berman pointed out. “A lot of people think that is a reason.”

Carson observed that “a lot of people have been charged with various things.”

“You’ve probably been charged with with something too,” Carson insisted to Berman. “Maybe with a misdemeanor or something. It doesn’t mean that you are an evil horrible person.”

Berman immediately objected: “I actually haven’t been charged with anything.”

“That’s the problem in America today,” Carson continued. “Everybody wants to demonize everybody rather than sitting down and having an intelligent discussion about what is going on.”

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Watch the video below from CNN, broadcast April 7, 2016.

Ben Carson on Trump campaign manager: "I don't see any reason … that we should demonize him" https://t.co/DJmIRolqEU https://t.co/iHbVnGNdPh — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 7, 2016