Dr. Ben Carson struggled to defend his endorsement of Donald Trump on Thursday, after the hosts of “The View” scathingly criticized the way the real estate mogul has talked about women, African-Americans and the retired neurosurgeon himself.
At one point in the interview, Carson only was able to counter Whoopi Goldberg’s assertion that Trump was a racist with “What’s the alternative?”
“The View” hosts repeatedly questioned Carson’s support for Trump, who the retired neurosurgeon endorsed earlier this month. So Carson argued that the Trump employees he had met had positive things to say about their boss, and insisted that Trump was standing up to the “political class.”
“But this guy, I’m sorry, he’s a racist and he’s not good for the country,” Goldberg told Carson.
“What’s the alternative?” Carson countered.
Host Joy Behar also noted that Trump once said Carson was a child molester.
“Unless you say you’re a child molester, he’s a liar,” she said. “Do you want a liar for the presidency?”
“Tell me a politician who doesn’t tell lies,” Carson replied.
To which Behar said, “Abraham Lincoln. I don’t know.”
Carson also addressed his own failed bid for the White House on the program, jokingly saying that his first choice for the presidency dropped out when he did.
“Let me tell you something, when you’re very nice, when you’re very respectful, you talk about the real issues and not get into all these issues, where does it get you?” Carson asked. “It gets you where it got me — nowhere.”
Trump later logged on to his prolific Twitter account to tweet his thoughts on the ABC program:
.@TheView T.V. show, which is failing so badly that it will soon be taken off thr air, is constantly asking me to go on. I TELL THEM “NO”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
Explain how the women on The View, which is a total disaster since the great Barbara Walters left, ever got their jobs. @abc is wasting time
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
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