Dr. Ben Carson took a moment away from stumping for Donald Trump in Detroit on Saturday to do a live on-air interview on CNN — then took another moment to look for his luggage as the cable network’s cameras continued to roll.
The retired neurosurgeon was being interviewed outside his childhood home by CNN’s Jeremy Diamon early Saturday afternoon when the former Republican presidential hopeful abruptly walked away after realizing he’d misplaced his luggage.
“We just saw Mr. Trump here and I asked him how did it go and he said ’Great.’ He said he learned a lot of things. What do you think he took away from today?” the interviewer asked.
“Oh my luggage. Um — hold on,” Dr. Carson responded while he walked away from the shoot. He could be seen in the background having a discussion with someone as CNN continued with its live broadcast. [see video here]
Dr. Carson returned around 25 seconds later and the interview resumed.
“He had an opportunity to speak with several people,” Dr. Carson said of the candidate’s Saturday morning in Detroit. “More importantly, he had an opportunity to see some of the parts of the city that are not prospering.”
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump at Detroit church: ‘Our nation is too divided’
Prior to being reminded of his luggage, Dr. Carson told CNN that he had toured “some of the more blighted areas of Detroit” with Mr. Trump, whose visit to the predominately African-American city on Saturday occurred as the candidate struggles to gain support among black voters ahead of the general election.
Detroit “was once the most prosperous city in American, and has unfortunately undergone some pretty awful things,” Dr. Carson told CNN. “In order for our country to be great again, every aspect has to be great, including our inner cities,” he said.
Mr. Trump has made revitalizing cities like Detroit a significant aspect of his campaign recently as the candidate continues to poll poorly with African-Americans against Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. His efforts have fallen flat at times, however, and drew criticism from the Clinton campaign last month while making a pitch to black voters from outside of Detroit in the predominately white city of Dimondale.
“You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?” Mr. Trump asked.
“This is so ignorant it’s staggering,” Mrs. Clinton fired back at the time.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump offered a more optimistic outlook for the future while speaking from the pulpit of Great Faith Ministries Church.
“I believe we need a civil rights agenda for our time, one that ensures the rights to a great education — so important — and the right to live in safety and peace, to have a really, really great job, good-paying job and one you love to go to every morning,” he said.
Multiple national polls have recently indicated Mr. Trump’s support among black voters has dwindled in the single digits.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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