Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Friday he would “love” to have one of his chief 2016 GOP rivals, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, as part of his administration should he get elected to the White House.
“I would love to have that — absolutely,” Mr. Trump said via phone on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Asked if he thinks Mr. Carson is a tough negotiator, Mr. Trump said: “That I don’t know. I would say it’s not his wheelhouse, but that I don’t know.”
“But in certain elements of an administration, I think he’d be very good,” he said.
Mr. Trump described Mr. Carson as a “nice man” who he likes and with whom he has a good relationship so far.
“I mean, I’m sure at some point he’ll hit me, you know, it’s one of those things, but so far, we’ve had a very good relationship,” he said.
Asked if he thinks Mr. Carson is qualified to be president, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, he’s running and you know, if he wins, he’s qualified, ’cause that’s the way the system works so, you know, he’s running.”
“Will anybody be able to do the job that I’m going to do? Absolutely not. But he’s running, so therefore he’s qualified,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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