US PRESIDENCY:BEN CARSON CONFIRMS
BACKING FOR DONALD TRUMP.
Former
Republican hopeful Ben Carson has confirmed his support for his former rival
and front-runner Donald Trump in the US presidential race.
He made the
endorsement at a joint news conference in Florida with Mr Trump, ahead of
primaries there on Tuesday.
The winner
of the Republican nomination will face Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders for
the Democrats, in November.
Mr Carson is
the second former candidate to endorse Mr Trump after New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie.
ANALYSIS OF THE NEWS
There are
two sure-fire ways to draw Donald Trump's ire. The first is to directly
criticise the New Yorker. The second is to pose a threat to his success.
Ben Carson
never did the former but for a few weeks last autumn he challenged Mr Trump in
Iowa polls and was rewarded with a full dose of the real estate mogul's
derision.
Bygones,
however, seem to be bygones. Now the retired neurosurgeon is endorsing the man
who once compared him to a child molester.
A
Trump-Carson alliance should not come as much of a surprise, however. Both
candidates tapped into the desire among disenchanted conservative voters to find
a candidate outside the traditional political world. Both offered sharp
critiques of the Republican "establishment".
Mr Carson
still has a loyal following, particularly among evangelical voters, and he
could be a valuable asset to Mr Trump on the campaign trail as the New Yorker
looks to secure the Republican nomination in the weeks ahead.
"I have
found in talking with him, that there's a lot more alignment, philosophically
and spiritually, than I ever thought that there was," Mr Carson said of
his former rival.
"Donald
Trump talks a lot about making America great. It's not just talk, he means
it."
Asked about
insults that the two candidates had thrown at each other in the early stages of
the campaign, Mr Carson said they had "buried the hatchet".
"That
was political stuff," he said. "That happens in American
politics."
Meanwhile Mr
Trump explained why he had targeted his competitor.
"The
one person who just kept sneaking up on me, I could not lose him, is Dr Ben
Carson," Mr Trump said. "I fought back, and I hit him hard, which is
politics, and he understands that."
Mr Carson's
endorsement follows a debate in Miami on Thursday night between Mr Trump and
his remaining rivals Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich.
Mr Trump, a
billionaire businessman from New York with no political experience, has
dominated the state primary contests so far.
More
contests next Tuesday in five states, including Florida and Ohio, could extend
Mr Trump's lead and determine whether Mr Rubio and Mr Kasich can continue in
the race.
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