Story highlights Trump cites Carson's own autobiography

"You don't cure a child molester," the real estate mogul said

Carson campaign responds, says Trump "resents" Carson's rise

(CNN) Donald Trump said Thursday that Ben Carson's self-described "pathological temper" is incurable -- adding that it's like the sickness of a "child molester."

"It's in the book that he's got a pathological temper," Trump told "Erin Burnett OutFront," speaking about Carson's autobiography. "That's a big problem because you don't cure that ... as an example: child molesting. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that."

In his 1990 autobiography, "Gifted Hands," Carson attributes violent behavior in his youth to his "disease," a "pathological temper" that the Republican presidential hopeful said caused him to strike one friend with a rock and attempt to stab another. In subsequent accounts of his violent youth, Carson said he once attempted to attack his mother with a hammer.

"I'm not bringing up anything that's not in his book," Trump told Erin Burnett. "You know, when he says he went after his mother and wanted to hit her in the head with a hammer, that bothers me. I mean, that's pretty bad. When he says he's pathological -- and he says that in the book, I don't say that -- and again, I'm not saying anything, I'm not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he's pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease."

Read More