--- title: Donald Trump: Ben Carson Was a Target of His Insults description: President-elect Donald Trump on Monday officially tapped retired neurosurgeon Ben Carsonto serve as Housing Secretary canonical: https://time.com/4590239/donald-trump-ben-carson-insults/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-05T13:54:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:07:57.315Z article:section: Politics og:title: 3 Times Donald Trump Insulted His New Cabinet Nominee Ben Carson og:description: "Ben Carson is a very low energy person" og:url: https://time.com/4590239/donald-trump-ben-carson-insults/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b640aab9bb4173/6988b0a72dce0157b59eba08/gettyimages-620018862.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump And VP Mike Pence Deliver Address On Healthcare Policy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3 Times Donald Trump Insulted His New Cabinet Nominee Ben Carson twitter:description: "Ben Carson is a very low energy person" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b640aab9bb4173/6988b0a72dce0157b59eba08/gettyimages-620018862.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 3 Times Donald Trump Insulted His New Cabinet Nominee Ben Carson > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=693a8ef3-8795-4300-88fe-17c6c307f9ae&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 5, 2016 1:54 PM UTC  Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson speaks ahead of an address by Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, on Obamacare in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016\. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson speaks ahead of an address by Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, on Obamacare in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016\. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 5, 2016 1:54 PM UTC President-elect [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4589641/donald-trump-china-taiwan-call/) on Monday officially tapped retired neurosurgeon [Ben Carson](http://time.com/4590208/donald-trump-ben-carson/?xid=homepage), a former opponent turned loyalist, to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in his new cabinet. In a gushing statement released by the Trump transition team, the President-elect said Carson “has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities.” But the sentiment of the future president differs a bit from the words of the former presidential candidate, who did not mince words when Carson was a rival for the Republican nomination. Here’s a look back at some of Trump’s fiercest attacks on Carson. **Trump on** [**Carson’s experience**](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-ben-carson-experience-president/story?id=34931301) “I think Ben just doesn’t have the experience. It’s not his thing, you know you’re born with it. It’s not his thing. He doesn’t have the temperament for it.” **Trump on** [**Carson’s energy**](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2015/10/25/donald-trum-ben-carson-low-energy-sot-state-of-the-union.cnn) “Ben Carson is a very low energy person, actually, I think Ben Carson is even lower energy than Jeb \[Bush\], if you want to know the truth. We need strong energy.” **Trump on** [**Carson’s temper**](http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/11/13/trump-brings-child-molesters-while-attacking-carson-iowa-rally) “I’m not saying it. He actually said ‘pathological temper,’ and then he defined it as disease. … If you’re pathological, there’s no cure for that, folks. If you’re a child molester, a sick puppy, there’s no cure for that. There’s only one cure. We don’t wanna talk about that cure.” Before Trump nominated him, one of Carson’s closest advisers [suggested he wasn’t up to the task of running a federal agency](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/11/ben-carson-suddenly-thinks-he-can-run-federal-agency): “Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.” Now, of course, all parties involved have only glowing things to say about one another. In a statement on Monday, Carson said he was “honored” to accept Trump’s nomination. “I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by serving communities that are most in need,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4590239/donald-trump-ben-carson-insults/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4590239/donald-trump-ben-carson-insults/"},"headline":"3 Times Donald Trump Insulted His New Cabinet Nominee Ben Carson","datePublished":"2016-12-05T13:54:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:07:57.315Z","description":"\"Ben Carson is a very low energy person\"","url":"https://time.com/4590239/donald-trump-ben-carson-insults/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","Dr. Benjamin S. 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