Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has skirted around criticizing GOP rival Ben Carson, but Trump had some criticisms for the retired neurosurgeon in an interview aired Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Last week, Carson surpassed Trump for support in Iowa, an early voting state. Tapper asked Trump about the new numbers.
Neither Trump nor Carson have unleashed attacks on each other thus far in their campaigns. Both candidates have even defended the other’s comments.
Trump said he was “just going to have to work a little bit harder in Iowa.”
“I like Ben, but he cannot do with trade like I do with trade,” Trump said. “He can’t do with a lot of things like I do. So we’ll have to see what happens.”
“He’s very, very weak on immigration. And I’m very strong on immigration. He believes in amnesty strongly,” Trump said. “He believes on citizenship. I mean he’s going to give citizenship to people that are here illegally. You can’t do that. And, you know, we disagree on other things, also.”
Trump added that he didn’t think Carson would be able to do deals with China or Japan. He also said that Carson was a “low energy person,” a line he usually associates with Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
“I think Ben Carson is a low energy person,” Trump said. “I think Ben Carson is lower energy than Jeb if you want to know the truth.”
