Since neurosurgeon Ben Carson suspended his presidential campaign, rumors of a looming Trump endorsement have bounced around the poltisphere.
The Washington Post reported this evening that Dr. Carson will endorse Donald Trump at a rally Friday morning:
Conservative favorite Ben Carson, who last week suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to endorse Donald Trump on Friday morning, according to two people familiar with his thinking.The endorsement, perhaps the most high-profile nod for Trump since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backed him, was finalized Thursday morning when Carson met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the luxury club owned by the Republican front-runner, the people said. The sources requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.Friday’s announcement will also take place at the club in Palm Beach, Fla., where the onetime rivals will appear alongside one another at a news conference.Armstrong Williams, Carson’s business manager, confirmed that the pair met Thursday but declined to comment further. A Trump campaign spokesperson declined to comment about the meeting or a possible endorsement.The support of Carson, a famed retired neurosurgeon and author, will likely give Trump a boost with GOP base voters and evangelicals, who embraced Carson’s campaign in its early days and fueled his brief rise to the top of Republican primary polls.Carson’s decision may surprise some of his backers since Trump made blistering critiques over the past year of stories from Carson’s past. But according to people close to him, Carson has gradually come to see Trump as the GOP’s best chance of winning a general election and turning out droves of disengaged voters.
Trump and Carson traded their fair show of blows while Carson was still in the running, most memorably when Trump compared Carson to a pedophile. Speculation that Carson is still incensed over Cruz’s alleged dirty tactics in Iowa are also in play. The Cruz campaign was blamed for circulating a rumor Carson would be dropping out. Carson countered by saying he was leaving Iowa for need of clean laundry.
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