Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson endorsed former President Donald Trump for president in 2024 during a Saturday campaign rally in Iowa.
Carson previously ran against Trump for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. The retired neurosurgeon went on to serve as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Trump administration.
During the rally, Carson referenced a quote from Benjamin Franklin on whether the United States was a monarch or a republic shortly after the country's founding.
"Benjamin Franklin was asked in 1787 after they finished the Constitutional Convention, ‘Sir, what do we have here? A monarchy or a republic?’" Carson told the Iowa crowd. "He said, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.'"
"The way we can keep it is we can put Donald J. Trump back in office," Carson added.
The former Republican presidential candidate also took aim at the Biden administration's lax border policies and praised Trump's take of the border during his time in office. Carson also praised the Trump administration's energy policies, commitment to freedom of speech, and lower costs of goods and services.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Carson said most Americans had "common sense," though believed most weren't courageous enough to say what they believed to be true.
“One man had the courage to take on the political establishment and give the people a voice in Washington, with no concern about what it would cost him,” Carson said. “Donald Trump lost millions if not billions of dollars. And he’s been attacked constantly and demonized, and yet, he’s still there. They haven’t gotten rid of him. They’re trying to do everything in their power to get rid of him. Because he’s the biggest threat to the administrative state and to the swamp — I don’t call it a swamp, I call it a cesspool.”
Trump commented on Carson's endorsement in a Sunday Truth Social post.
"A great honor to have just received the Endorsement for President from Dr. Ben Carson," Trump wrote. "Thank you, Ben!!!"
According to a national poll from RealClearPolitics, Trump holds a 46.5 point lead over runner-up Republican candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who leads former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley by 4.3 points.
Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his campaign for President last week.
“The Bible tells us that there is time for every purpose under heaven,” Pence said at the event on Oct. 28 while in Las Vegas. “Traveling across the country for the past six months, I came here to say it has become clear to me. This is not my time.”
Former radio host and California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder also suspended his campaign last week. Elder threw support behind Trump's re-election bid.
Other candidates who remain in the race for the Republican nomination include former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
