Abby Phillip Pushes Back After Ben Carson Says Trump ‘Not a Highly Vindictive’ Person: ‘Talks About Getting Revenge Almost Every Day’
CNN host Abby Phillip pushed back against former HUD Secretary Ben Carson on Tuesday after Carson claimed former President Donald Trump was “not a highly vindictive person.”
After Phillip asked Carson whether he would “support Trump prosecuting President Biden,” Carson replied:
I think in his speech yesterday, or the day before, that he took a more conciliatory turn and recognizes that the problems that face us right now are enormous, and we could spend a lot of time going after people, or we could address those problems. I think we’ve already seen that President Trump is not a highly vindictive individual, in that he didn’t go after Hillary after he was elected in 2016.
Phillip interrupted, “You’re saying President Trump is not a highly vindictive person? He’s literally pledged to prosecute his– to Joe Biden, he said he would do that. He said he would go after people who wronged him.”
“I always have a tendency to look and see what people do, not so much what they say,” replied Carson, “particularly in the heat of a political environment.”
Phillip then pointed out that “Trump, Dr. Carson, talks about getting revenge almost every day on social media. I mean really, just days ago.”
She questioned, “Should voters not take that seriously? Should voters have to wait until he’s actually president to find out if that’s going to happen?”
After Carson replied that Trump had said recently, “he is not going to have time to be vindictive,” Phillip responded, “He said he’s not going to have time to be a dictator, which is an interesting thing to say.”
“I said ‘to be vindictive,'” protested Carson.
“To be vindictive, as well. Dr. Ben Carson, thank you,” Phillip concluded.
This month, during a speech about his indictments, Trump warned President Joe Biden “to be careful because that could happen to him also.”
“The next president, whoever that may be, has a statute of limitations that go back six years. That’s a long time, Joe. You have to be very careful,” he said.
In December, Trump boastingly shared the results of a survey, which showed many voters believe he will seek revenge in a second term, and in that same month, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity he would only be a “dictator” on “day one.”
In November, a Washington Post report claimed Trump and his allies had “begun mapping out specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents,” and in August, during a rant against the “unprecedented weaponization of ‘Justice,'” against him, Trump wrote, “BUT SOON, IN 2024, IT WILL BE OUR TURN. MAGA!”
Watch above via CNN.
