Carson: Trump didn’t explain PTSD ‘correctly’
Ben Carson on Tuesday criticized Donald Trump’s recent comments addressing military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“In the politically correct atmosphere in which we exist, you’re never supposed to say somebody’s weak, particularly a vulnerable group,” Carson, a top adviser to the Republican presidential nominee, said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”
{mosads}“He needs to learn that lesson, I guess, if he’s going to function well in the politically correct atmosphere. He just didn’t explain it correctly.”
Trump sparred with the media Monday over his remarks on PTSD during an address to a veterans’ group.
A former Marine asked Trump if he would take a “holistic” approach to treating veterans with PTSD, including faith-based Christian programs.
“Look, we need that so badly, and when you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see maybe what people in this room have seen many times over — and you’re strong and you can handle it — but a lot of people can’t handle it and they see horror stories,” the GOP presidential nominee responded.
“They see events that you’d see in a movie and you wouldn’t believe it. We need mental health help, and medical — it’s one of the things that’s least addressed, and it’s one of things I hear about most when I go around and talk to veterans.”
Carson on Tuesday sought to explain what Trump really meant.
“Basically, what he’s saying are a large number of people are exposed to something but only some of them are affected,” he said.
“Some people have strong immunity and some people have less strong immunity. Some people are affected by it and some people are not. The ones who are affected by it are not inferior individuals by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just their system did not withstand it. That’s what he’s saying.”
Carson, himself a former GOP presidential candidate, said Trump remains focused on helping veterans.
“[Trump] does feel that they should get help, and he feels that the help they’re getting is inadequate,” he said. “It’s woefully inadequate. PTSD is a significant problem. Traumatic brain injuries are a significant problem. We have simply ignored it and we need to deal with in a serious manner.”