Ben Carson: I'll Be Trump's Ally 'on the Outside'

He declines Cabinet slot, feels he 'has no government experience'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2016 12:03 AM CST
Ben Carson: I'll Be Trump's Ally 'on the Outside'
Ben Carson speaks during a Trump rally earlier this month.   (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

Donald Trump's transition team may be in disarray but one thing is clear: Ben Carson is highly unlikely to be in his Cabinet. Carson aide Armstrong Williams says the former neurosurgeon has rejected an offer to become Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, CNN reports. Williams tells the Hill that Carson—who was running for president earlier this year—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."

In an interview with the Washington Post, Carson declined to discuss specific posts he had been offered, but said he has let Trump know that he plans to serve only as an unofficial adviser. "I've said that if it came to a point where he absolutely needs me, I'd reconsider. But I don’t think that’s the situation with these positions," he said. "My view is that if some people and the media are going to hate him, then he’s going to need allies on the outside to be there, to be there to move the country forward. I don’t care about a position." (After dropping out of the race in March, Carson said Trump had offered him a job.)

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