Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Sunday wouldn’t say whether he agrees with President Trump’s claim that he’s “done more for the black community than any other president” since Abraham Lincoln left office in 1865.
When asked by ABC News’ George Stephanopolous about Trump’s claim — which was aired on Fox News on Thursday and echoed his tweet earlier this month — Carson touted what he views as accomplishments by the Trump administration regarding opportunity zones, prison reforms and increased funding for HBCUs.
Carson went on to say that debating about who has “done the most” is “not productive.”
“So to get into an argument about who’s done the most probably is not productive,” Carson said. “But it is good to acknowledge the things that have been done.”
Stephanopoulos then pressed on Carson on whether Trump should stop making his claim. The ABC News anchor mentioned how former President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act, Ulysses Grant sent in troops to take on the Ku Klux Klan and Dwight Eisenhower dispatched troops to enforce Brown v. Board of Education.
“All of which is a significant part of our history,” Carson said. “And that’s an important thing for us to acknowledge — what has happened in the past. And, you know, we should be willing to look at what we’ve done together collectively to make progress.”
Watch Carson’s remarks below:
JUST IN: In an interview with @GStephanopoulos, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson declines to back President Trump's claim that he’s the best president for black America since Abraham Lincoln. https://t.co/MRHKNo8b2x pic.twitter.com/4gHgp308qM
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 14, 2020
