President-elect Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he is “seriously considering” nominating retired neurosurgeon and top Trump surrogate Ben Carson as head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“He’s a greatly talented person who loves people!” Trump wrote in the tweet, which was sent from a Twitter web client rather than the Android device associated with his most unfiltered posts.
I am seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson as the head of HUD. I’ve gotten to know him well–he’s a greatly talented person who loves people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016
Ben Carson previously turned down an open offer to accept an official role in Trump’s incoming administration, according to a report published by The Hill last week.
“Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency,” Carson ally Armstrong Williams told The Hill. “The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”
Carson ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2016 GOP primary.