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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Ben Carson Offered Housing and Urban Development, Trump Awaits Decision

President-elect Donald Trump has offered Dr. Ben Carson the job of secretary of Housing and Urban Development, his spokesman said Wednesday.

By TIM RYAN

WASHINGTON (CN) - President-elect Donald Trump has offered Dr. Ben Carson the job of secretary of Housing and Urban Development, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Armstrong Williams, Caron's business partner, told CNN Wednesday Carson will consider the position over the Thanksgiving holiday.

If he accepts, Carson would be the first African American Trump has appointed to a cabinet position.

Carson, a former neurosurgeon, made an outsider run for the White House in the Republican primary and supported Trump soon after dropping out of the race. He said earlier this month he was not interested in serving in Trump's administration.

But Trump apparently did not give up on Carson, who he called a "greatly talented person who loves people" in a tweet on Tuesday.

Carson then teased an announcement would be "forthcoming" about his role in the administration, linking to a Facebook post that seemed to hint he would be joining the team.

"After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone," Carson wrote in the post.

News that Carson might take the job circulated Wednesday, a day that saw Trump also name South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as his ambassador to the United Nations and billionaire philanthropist Betsy DeVos as his education secretary.

Carson finished fourth in Iowa in the Republican primary, running a campaign similar to Trump's, though with a softer edge. His star quickly faded however, as he dropped out shortly after Super Tuesday in March.

His campaigned was dogged by allegations that he overstated parts of his background in his autobiography  "Gifted Hands," including the claim that he had received a full scholarship to West Point. Carson later admitted that he had never even applied to the military academy.

Carson, 65, was born in Detroit and became famous for separating a pair of conjoined twins connected by a blood vessel in the back of the head. At 33 Carson became director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

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