Trump Rehashes Ben Carson ‘God Is With You’ Story — With a Notable Difference

President Donald Trump recalled the moment one-time political foe Dr. Ben Carson told the future president, “God wants you to win it,” in the early days of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump, speaking at House Religious Liberty Commission on Monday morning, fawned over Carson, before sharing a personal anecdote from the first Republican presidential debate, after which Trump claimed Carson informed him, “God wants you to win it.”

He’s been my friend from the beginning, right from the beginning. Should I tell them the story what you said to me, Ben, the famous words? He was a very tough opponent. We were fighting it out and we had actually 18 candidates, including me, and Ben came up to me right after the first debate and he said, “You know you are going to win, don’t you?” and I said, “No, I don’t know that.” I think I’m going to win, but I don’t know it. 18 people and I had never done it before. They had all done it. They were all governors and senators, talented people. He said, “No you’re going to win it because God wants you to win it.”

But those who are avid Trump watchers will know it’s not the first time Trump has told this story, though this time with much stronger language.

During his remarks on the National Day of Prayer back in May, Trump similarly gushed about Carson, but the story was a little different:

He’s been with me from the beginning. You know, he was campaigning against me, originally. Can I tell that story, Ben? You mind? Are you sure you don’t mind? Because he was campaigning, he was very effective, and he was going up in the polls. And he looked at me about three or four debates in, and he said, “You know, you’re going to win by a lot, don’t you?” This was during 2016.

And I said, “What do you mean, Ben, what you mean? You’re campaigning, don’t say that, Ben! You’re campaigning! You have a shot.” He was a little bit behind, pretty far, far enough. But he said, “You know you’re going to win. These people can’t beat you. Nobody’s going to be able to beat you,” And I said “Why?” He said, “Because God is with you.”

I said, “That’s nice.” And he said it once again in the church, remember that, Ben? He pulled me over, he said, “Remember what I told you, God is with you.” And we went on to win.

Another discrepancy between the stories centers on when it took place.

Trump said Monday that it was after the first Republican debate, on Aug. 6, 2015. But in May, Trump claimed it was in 2016 after they were “three or four debates in.”

Despite the divine compliment, Carson hung on to his bid for the Republican presidential nomination for months, finally throwing in the towel in March 2016.

Trump noted Carson’s reluctance to drop out in his Monday remarks.

“But that didn’t stop him. We went through — I said, ‘When is this guy going to quit,’ you know? He gave me these words and then he goes weeks and weeks. He was tough. He was a tough one, but we love Ben. Ben is special and we appreciate it.”

One thing is for certain: The president has had a strong bond with Carson, who served as his HUD secretary during Trump’s first term.

Watch above via Fox News.