Donald Trump is no fan of fellow Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, and in typical Trump fashion, he is letting everyone know just how he really feels about the former neurosurgeon. While it is difficult to say if jealousy is a factor in Trump’s latest attack on Carson, the fact that a few recent polls are showing Carson ahead of Trump in Iowa could very well play a big part in the real estate mogul’s latest rants.
According to NBC News , Trump initially commented on Ben Carson’s energy levels on Friday morning. While some consider Carson soft-spoken, relaxed, and confident, others such as Trump view his demeanor as too passive and tired. For a job that demands an alert and energized leader, Trump referred to Carson’s energy levels as “lower than Bush.” Since Trump is on record many times of criticizing the former president about various decisions he made during his time in office, he clearly does not believe Carson would be anything close to a competent president.
Additionally, Trump believes that Carson is weak on immigration, according to an interview that appeared on CNN . He also thinks that Carson would have trouble negotiating with China, and would not be the type of strong president that would be able to handle conflicts with ISIS.
After making the comments to CNN about Carson having less energy than George W. Bush, Trump took it a step further at a rally at Trump National Doral Miami resort.
“Donald Trump falls to second place behind Ben Carson. We informed Ben, but he was sleeping.”
Trump went on to question the results of the polls.
“I don’t believe those polls by the way because both of those pollsters disagree with me. Both of those polling groups do not like me at all and I disagree (with the results).”
While Donald Trump has always been a straight shooter, some political analysts are questioning if these attacks are going to be his downfall. Over the past few months, Trump and Carson have exchanged words on different occasions, but Trump appears to be taking his attacks to another level. According to CNN , Trump did promise that he would start attacking Carson more if he started gaining more leverage in the polls.
“Probably. At some point, yes, which I actually look forward to doing. I can’t do it. He’s been so nice to me.”
While Carson’s strategy of killing Trump with kindness has appeared to stop working, he recently told Bloomberg that he would not respond to any future attacks by Trump.
“If he does attack me, I’ll continue to talk about issues. I just really don’t buy into the attack-your-fellow-Republicans thing. I’m just not going to do that”
Carson appears to be taking the high road at this point, but he may find it difficult since Trump has been relentless in the past with his attacks. Recently, other politicians have been his targets, but he has attacked Rosie O’Donnell, Heidi Klum, and many other celebrities for reasons such as weight, age, and personality. Even though some find his antics entertaining, many people are upset that he is causing distractions at the debates by not focusing on the issues.
According to NBC News , Trump is also not a fan of Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Whether or not this dislike comes because he is the brother of George W. Bush is unknown, but Trump does not think highly of the recent restructuring of his campaign spending. He also believes that the rest of the Bush family, including his parents and brother, may be helping to fund his failing campaign. He ended his rant on Bush by referring to his campaign as a failure and it is embarrassing the entire Bush family.
At the current rate, Donald Trump is likely to continue to attack fellow candidates, including Ben Carson, until a Republican nominee is selected.
[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]