Ben Carson tapped to head HUD
Ben Carson tapped to head HUDReuters

President-elect Donald Trump praised Dr. Ben Carson, who earlier accepted Trump's nomination for the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), writing on social media after Carson accepted the nomination.

“Dr. Carson,” wrote Trump on his Facebook page, “is a distinguished national leader who overcame his troubled youth in the inner city of Detroit to become a renowned neurosurgeon who served as the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland.”

He added, “I am thrilled to nominate Dr. Ben Carson as our next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a Presidency representing all Americans.”

Dr. Carson was one of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, and Trump and Carson were critical of one another during that campaign. However, Carson was one of the first to endorse Trump’s bid for President once he dropped out of the race last March.

Carson does not have specific experience with the activities of HUD, which manages low-income housing assistance, facilitates financing for home-ownership and administers fair-housing programs. However, he shares President-Elect Trump's views on the government’s often counter-productive role in combating racial inequality through forced desegregation. In a Washington Times op-ed, he wrote that mandated busing was a “failed experiment” which “contributed to blighted inner cities” and “forced children to travel for hours as part of a social experiment.”

Carson noted on his Facebook page, that “after serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need. We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation’s housing needs are met.”

Trump’s decision to nominate Carson followed his announcement nominating South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, as ambassador to the United Nations. Haley and Carson are the first people of color chosen by Trump to serve in his cabinet.