Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson expressed his support for the family of Jacob Blake at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, defending President Donald Trump on issues with the black community.
Blake is the black man shot multiple times by a cop on Sunday Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is currently being treated. Reports say that he will be lucky to ever walk again.
Carson is the highest official in the Trump administration to mention Blake specifically and said at the beginning of his speech at the event, “Our hearts go out to the Blake family and the other families who’ve been impacted by the tragic events in Kenosha.”
He went on to defend President Trump’s records on issues important to the black community, mentioning that the president does “not dabble in identity politics.”
“Many on the other side love to incite division by claiming that President Trump is a racist. They could not be more wrong. Years ago, Jesse Jackson gave Donald Trump an award for the economic opportunities he created for Black people.”
According to Carson, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, “African American unemployment was at an all-time low.”
Carson is part of Trump’s new crusade to shield the suburbs from low-income housing despite previously embracing a plan to use the federal government to push local governments to overhaul zoning rules that prevent the construction of highly dense apartment buildings.
