Ben Carson Announces What's Next for His Political Career
Dr. Ben Carson, the renowned neurosurgeon, one-time presidential candidate and former HUD secretary under the Trump administration, is launching a conservative think tank as his next venture.
Carson, 69, served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development from March 2017 until Jan. 20. Prior to that, he made history by separating conjoined twins while working for the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in 1987.
Between his roles as a Cabinet member and a historic surgeon, among other things, Carson has garnered favor among many conservatives and Christians. And the doctor wrote in an Op-Ed published by RealClearPolitics that he doesn’t intend to back down from fighting for what he believes in.
“We have painted our fellow Americans as ‘deplorable,’ ‘stupid,’ and worse. It is this type of malicious, political rhetoric fueled by opportunistic politicians and profit-driven media organizations that has roiled our deeply divided nation,” Carson wrote Wednesday.
“We are better than this. Words such as compromise, compassion, and civility are twisted, maligned and tainted as somehow being dirty, or have magically disappeared altogether,” he added.
Carson recalled the path of American political discourse, as he sees it, and applied his life’s experiences to frame where, in his mind, the country sits.
“We must do better than this. I miss the days when Americans fought united for freedom and justice for all — equally. I miss when compromise, compassion, and civility were not only encouraged but celebrated, where individuals accepted the consequences of their actions, when politicians pursued the public good, not just their own good,” he wrote.
On his time as HUD secretary, Carson noted, “[T]he last four years taught me many things, none more important than the necessity for collaboration and mutual understanding. I saw first-hand that, when we work together as one nation, the American Dream becomes attainable for all and opportunity becomes limitless.”
Carson then announced his experience will not go to waste — he is forming a conservative nonprofit called the American Cornerstone Institute.
“I am launching a nonprofit conservative think tank with the goal of providing common-sense solutions to some of our nation’s biggest problems. The first step in healing is to start talking to one another again,” Carson wrote.
He also shared the group’s new Twitter page on his personal account.
Today I am proud to announce the launch of my new think tank, The American Cornerstone Institute.
Please follow along @ACI1776 and visit our website at https://t.co/vBCIhB0jU1— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) February 3, 2021
“The American Cornerstone Institute will be dedicated to creating dialogue and smart discourse,” Carson added in his Op-Ed.
“There have been many calls to heal the divide that has polarized our great nation. The American Cornerstone Institute will be a leader and part of the solution.”
Read my latest in @RealClearNews https://t.co/HKYKvR3EHm
— American Cornerstone Institute (@ACI1776) February 3, 2021
“ACI will focus on promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country’s most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to maximize government’s efficiency and effectiveness to best serve all our nation’s citizens.”
A website for Carson’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit is now live and accepting donations for the causes the doctor wishes to champion.
“We will serve as a check on political power in Washington. ACI will actively push and remind the powers that be to allow and even empower local communities to govern their own affairs,” Carson said of the think tank.
“Washington may be home to our political arena, but it is seldom a place for finding solutions; for those we must look to the American people.”
“The Bible says, if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand,” he concluded. “There have been many calls to heal the divide that has polarized our great nation. The American Cornerstone Institute will be a leader and part of the solution. Our goal is simple: heal, inspire, and revive America.”
Carson has spent a lifetime building relationships.
Applying his valuable experiences to this new organization in an attempt to appeal to the soul of the country is apparently not brain surgery, which of course he conquered long ago, to Carson.
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