Ben Carson: 'Black Lives Matter' just as bad as the Confederate flag

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday compared painting “Black Lives Matter” on city streets to “painting the Confederate flag,” during an interview on Fox News.

Protests against police brutality have occurred in all 50 states over the past month following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in Minnesota. In response to the protests, several municipalities have painted the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on their streets.

Donald Trump responded earlier on Wednesday to one of those paintings by referring to them as a “symbol of hate.”

From the July 1 edition of Fox News’ “The Story”:

MARTHA MacCALLUM: The phrase “symbol of hate” that the president tweeted about the Black Lives Matter paint that’s going down right now in front of city hall, downtown, was that a mistake on his part, to call it that? Or not?

 

BEN CARSON: Well, I guess the larger question is when you’re in a public forum, a public square, do you have the right to put on there, you know, a political statement?

 

I wonder what people would say if somebody painted a Confederate flag on a public street? So we really need to take into consideration those things. On private property, absolutely do whatever you want. This is a free country. But we have to recognize that when we put political symbols on public property, we have to take responsibility for that.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.