Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson continued his fight against putting Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill in an op-ed published Tuesday, arguing that the move makes the iconic abolitionist “the new face of American debt slavery.”
Carson wrote at the conservative news site Independent Journal that the gesture was “nothing short of national disgrace” and an attempt by President Barack Obama to hide “the burgeoning U.S. debt, and the declining significance of the U.S. Dollar.”
“Harriet Tubman, one of America’s truest and most revered freedom fighters, deserves a far more fitting tribute than to be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency by placing her on the twenty dollar bill,” Carson wrote.
Carson offered a brief biography of Tubman and argued that putting her on the $20 bill was a “cheap trick” to convince black people to support a “nearly bankrupt symbol of American debt.”
“Harriet Tubman would likely be turning over in her grave if she knew she would be the new face of American debt slavery,” Carson wrote.
Carson first questioned Tubman’s place on the $20 bill after it was announced last week that she would bump former President Andrew Jackson to the back of the bill alongside an image of the White House. He said at the time that while he loved what Tubman accomplished, the thought she deserved a different distinction, such as appearing on the $2 bill.
The retired neurosurgeon endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after failing in his own bid for the White House. He’s since struggled to articulate a defense of the GOP frontrunner’s policy decisions and colorful language about women and minorities on the campaign trail.
