While speaking today at the Iowa National Security Action Summit, Ben Carson warned that nefarious forces trying to bring about “fundamental change” are sparking racial strife throughout the country.

“You look at situations that occurred in Baltimore and some of our other cities and they tried to make those into racial issues,” Carson said. “But Baltimore has a black mayor, it has a black police commissioner, most of the police officers are members of minorities, so that’s not a racial issue.”

He blamed the recent strife in the city on agitators and “purveyors of discord,” saying that the city’s problems can be solved through a mix of tax breaks and deregulation.