HUD Secretary Ben Carson Warns Some In Black Lives Matter Protests Are Being 'Manipulated'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Ben Carson, the U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, was in Pittsburgh on Friday morning.
He participated in a roundtable discussion with former foster children receiving rental assistance under a new HUD program.
In an interview before the event with KDKA political editor Jon Delano, Carson — the only Black person in the Trump Cabinet — shared strong views about Black Lives Matter protests.
Not all Black people think alike any more than white, Asian, or Hispanic Americans. And Ben Carson, a conservative Republican, is certainly one example.
The skilled neurosurgeon worries that many young people, Black and white, are being "manipulated" by some in the Black Lives Matter movement, and he's pretty blunt in his assessment.
"I think a lot of people are being manipulated, both Black and white," Carson told KDKA's Jon Delano.
Carson has a message to BLM protesters.
WATCH: Full Interview With Ben Carson
"Please don't allow yourself to be manipulated to believe that you're a victim and that somebody else is causing all of your problems," Carson said.
Carson told KDKA he heard that "victim" message as a child until his mother made him read books about entrepreneurs, scientists and explorers.
"I began to realize that the person who has the most to do with what happens to you is you," Carson said. "Doesn't mean there aren't any problems in life, but your success or failure in life depends on how you react to those problems."
And Carson says it's not just Black young people who fall victim.
"White guilt is responsible for a lot of the activity that we see as well, and we all need to sort of take a step back and realize that we are not each other's enemies," Carson said.
Delano: Twice you've said these protesters are being manipulated. Who's doing the manipulating?
Carson: I think those who want to fundamentally change our nation, where the government takes care of you from cradle to grave, but you give the government full power, and that is really antithetical to the founding principles of this country.
Carson says this happens when you destroy the history and identity of a country and replace it with a new belief system, something he thinks is happening now.