--- description: Carson appeared next to Trump at a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida title: Ben Carson Endorses Donald Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23d90a22913a5a3a/69888a94cf40a86bf1c425dc/ben-carson-donald-trump-gop-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ben Carson Endorses Donald Trump by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:28 PM CUTPublished: Mar 11, 2016 2:15 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson shakes hands with Donald Trump after a Republican presidential primary debate at the University of Houston, Feb. 25, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson shakes hands with Donald Trump after a Republican presidential primary debate at the University of Houston, Feb. 25, 2016.David J. Phillip—AP by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:28 PM CUTPublished: Mar 11, 2016 2:15 PM CUT [Ben Carson](http://time.com/4246524/ben-carson-drops-out-of-race/ "undefined") endorsed Donald Trump, making the retired neurosurgeon the second former presidential candidate to endorse the Republican frontrunner in the last two weeks. Appearing next to Trump at a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, Carson said Trump is “a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America.” “There are two Donald Trumps,” Carson added, alluding to Trump’s campaign persona. “There is one who sits on the stage and the one who is cerebral…and that’s the one you are going to start seeing more and more of.” Carson’s endorsement was finalized on Thursday during a meeting with Trump, [reports the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/10/ben-carson-plans-to-endorse-trump/ "undefined"). Trump confirmed that Carson would endorse him during Thursday night’s Republican debate on CNN. “It is such an honor to have Ben—he is a friend, he has become a friend and I appreciate the endorsement,” Trump said after Carson spoke on Friday. Carson ended his presidential bid last week, [saying that he saw no “political path forward” in the race](http://time.com/4255008/ben-carson-endorse-donald-trump/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4255355/ben-carson-endorses-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4255355/ben-carson-endorses-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Endorses Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-03-11T14:15:23.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T16:28:37.000Z","description":"Carson appeared next to Trump at a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida","url":"https://time.com/4255355/ben-carson-endorses-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23d90a22913a5a3a/69888a94cf40a86bf1c425dc/ben-carson-donald-trump-gop-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23d90a22913a5a3a/69888a94cf40a86bf1c425dc/ben-carson-donald-trump-gop-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ben Carson, Donald Trump","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson shakes hands with Donald Trump after a Republican presidential primary debate at the University of Houston, Feb. 25, 2016.","creditText":"David J. Phillip—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4255355/ben-carson-endorses-donald-trump/","name":"Ben Carson Endorses Donald Trump"}}]}] ```