Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson went head-to-head on Sunday during a debate on CBS’ Face the Nation. Carson, who usually avoids confrontations with Trump, defended himself against harsh accusations made by the real estate mogul.
New York Daily New s reports that Trump, the current front-runner in the Republican nomination, attacked Carson’s credibility on making good deals , mainly because Carson’s background is in medicine.
“I’m a dealmaker. I’ll make great deals for this country. Ben can’t do that. Ben is not a dealmaker at all and I don’t think would be a good — I don’t think that’s his natural ability at all.”
Carson, who is usually laid back and reserved in demeanor, fought back against Trump’s accusations, also defending his own demeanor, which is in stark contrast to Trump’s.
“It doesn’t bother me, because I recognize that I have plenty of energy. You don’t have to be loud to be energetic.”
Carson also touched on Trump’s accusations that he can’t succeed in other areas besides medicine, something that Trump has brought up several times during the past couple of months.
“I find it quite humorous when people say, ‘He’s an idiot savant. He only knows neurosurgery.’ Just the fact that they would say something like that, they don’t know what it takes to become a neurosurgeon. That’s pretty idiotic itself.”
Being humble is something Carson holds close to his heart, and he also thinks it’s one of the most important qualities for a commander in chief to have. Many people have questioned Trump’s lack of humbleness in recent months, and when Carson was asked if he thinks Trump is humble enough to be president, the former neurosurgeon simply said,
“That will be a decision that the voters will make.”
For the most part, Carson tends to avoid butting heads with Trump. According to the Wall Street Journal , Carson has seen first-hand what happens during confrontational battles with Trump after other Republican candidates, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush, “found themselves diminished after tussling with Mr. Trump.”
On the other hand, it seems as if Trump’s over-the-top confrontations are working. Per a new CNN/ORC poll, Trump is topping the Republican nomination with a 30 percent support rate , nearly tripling his support rate since he started his campaign in June. Ben Carson follows Donald Trump in 2nd place with 19 percent, followed by Jeb Bush, who went down 4 points since August, and now stands at 9 percent.
[Photos Courtesy of Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images, & Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images]
