Ben Carson: Trump's fight with Paul Ryan is a 'complete waste of time'

Ben Carson is one of the Republicans sticking by Donald Trump as a string of recent controversies threaten to derail his candidacy, but he has less patience for the nominee's attacks on the party’s leaders, calling the infighting a “complete waste of time” on Wednesday.

“Getting into fights with Ryan or anybody else — complete waste of time,” Carson told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, referencing Trump’s attacks on Speaker Paul Ryan, the highest-ranking Republican in Washington. “It's not helpful at all.”


Trump, who some say has little to lose as he slides further behind Hillary Clinton in the polls, went on the offensive on Tuesday and lashed out at Republicans who are abandoning him in the wake of damaging video footage that surfaced showing him bragging about sexual assault. He took on Arizona Sen. John McCain, a critic who rescinded his endorsement, and Ryan, who says he still plans to vote for the nominee but won’t defend him or campaign with him in the month before the election.

Carson, a surgeon who ran in the Republican primary this year, was blunt in his assessment of that tactic on Wednesday morning: Trump should stop yelling at Republicans and focus on the issues and offer a contrast to Clinton, the Democratic nominee.

“The evidence shows that when Donald Trump talks about the issues, he rises. And when he gets into the mud, he falls,” Carson said.

Without offering much of an explanation for his optimism, though, Carson also suggested that “information is disseminating, working its way through the system” and predicted “we will see a change” in Trump’s behavior. Asked if he thought it was too late in the campaign to undo the damage, Carson was again hopeful.

“I don't think it's too late at all if he gets on message and talks about the issues that affect the people of America,” he said.

Trump, for his part, has not signaled any regret for professing his anger with party leaders. If anything, he's said the opposite, tweeting Tuesday, “It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to.”