David Rutz of Washington Free Beacon came across the latest mind-baffling statement by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews early Friday afternoon when he remarked to Trump surrogate Dr. Ben Carson that non-white people are handicapped similar to how some develop or are born with “physical handicap or they’re born to poverty.”
If that statement wasn’t enough, Matthews dubbed Carson as the Cupid of the Trump campaign in trying to bring fellow ex-presidential candidates who have been skeptical over to the so-called Trump Train.
Matthews welcomed Carson onto the show (as he was filling in for Andrea Mitchell) and asked “who are you working to bring in now to the Trump camp” seeing as how he has “this new role of kind of playing Cupid.”
Naturally, Carson didn’t catch this analogy and emphasized he doesn’t “want any official role” but instead has simply been “try[ing] to do the things that can facilitate the saving of our country.”
Seeking to inquire about whether Carson has helped Trump become “more empathetic,” Matthews claimed he was trying to paraphrase Carson when he equated having a certain background to being physically handicapped: “In other words, you’ve said, you know, there’s some people that have had handicaps from birth, whether it’s ethnicity or whatever or it’s a physical handicap or they’re born to poverty, it’s hard for them to pull themselves up even in a free society.”
Carson again failed to call Matthews out and instead attacked The Washington Post for writing pieces critical of Trump:
Well, you know what I would suggest is some of these many reporters that The Washington Post has sent to follow and try to dig a dirt on Trump, why don’t they find the people who have worked with him or worked for him for long periods of time and talked to them. They’ll get a very different story. I bet they won’t want to tell that story.
The relevant portion of the transcript from MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on May 13 can be found below.
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
May 13, 2016
12:01 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, joining me now is one of Donald Trump's top surrogates, former Republican presidential candidate Doctor Ben Carson. Doctor Carson, thank you for joining us. Let me ask you about your role now because you were running for president, you were an esteemed surgeon and I’m wondering, this new role of kind of playing Cupid. You are trying to bring in the recalcitrant rivals, so far, you got you, Chris Christie the governor of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, who are you working to bring in now to the Trump camp?
BEN CARSON: First of all, let me say everybody is always trying to give me a role. I don't want any official role. What I want to do is try to do the things that can facilitate the saving of our country. So, of course, that means reaching out to all kinds of people and helping them to recognize we are not each other's enemies. You know, we should — whether you are Democrat or Republican — quite frankly, if you are an American, you should be interested in seeing, you know, job growth and seeing security and seeing us providing a mechanism for people who are downtrodden to climb the ladder of success in the country. If we can start on concentrating on the things that made America great instead of all of this warfare all the time, I think we would be much better off.
MATTHEWS: Do you think Mr. Trump is empathetic for people that haven’t done well in this country?
CARSON: I’ve talked to him about it. He's very empathetic about it and in fact, a lot of people on the conservative side, but they have done a horrible job of expressing it in a way that connects with people and that's something that's going to be worked on, I guarantee you for this election cycle and beyond that election cycle.
MATTHEWS: Have you ever tried to make Donald Trump more empathetic. In other words, you’ve said, you know, there’s some people that have had handicaps from birth, whether it’s ethnicity or whatever or it’s a physical handicap or they’re born to poverty, it’s hard for them to pull themselves up even in a free society. Does he get it?
CARSON: Well, you know what I would suggest is some of these many reporters that The Washington Post has sent to follow and try to dig a dirt on Trump, why don’t they find the people who have worked with him or worked for him for long periods of time and talked to them. They’ll get a very different story. I bet they won’t want to tell that story.
