住房和城市发展秘书本·卡森美国广播公司的“本周”节目拒绝支持总统唐纳德·特朗普s反复声称自亚伯拉罕·林肯以来，他为非裔美国人社区做的事情比任何一位总统都多，说辩论是“没有成效的”
卡森周日表示:“争论谁做得最有可能不会有成效，但承认已经做的事情是好事。”。
在美国广播公司新闻节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯对特朗普的说法的追问下，卡森说“承认过去发生的事情对我们来说很重要”，同时吹捧特朗普的记录论刑事司法改革与历史上黑人大学的经费。
“我们应该愿意看看我们共同做了什么来取得进展，”他说。
作为特朗普政府中唯一的非裔美国内阁部长，卡森表示，在乔治·弗洛伊德被警方拘留谋杀以及针对种族不平等和警察暴行的抗议持续不断之后，美国人需要停止“将一切都投入战斗舞台”，并“找到合作的方式”。
他说:“我们显然需要承认，抗议是有原因的。”。“但这也意味着我们需要展开讨论，我们需要听取警察和抗议者的意见。”
2020年3月21日星期六，在华盛顿白宫举行的冠状病毒特别工作组简报会上，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在听取住房和城市发展部长本·卡森的讲话。
当被斯特凡诺普洛斯问及特朗普一再呼吁执法部门“控制街道”时，卡森暗示特朗普是在说“我们不能屈服于无政府状态”
“我想我们都会同意这一点，”他说。“我们可能不会都用同样的方式表达，但我们都会同意。”
卡森称赞总统决定将计划中的俄克拉何马州塔尔萨集会从6月20日推迟。塔尔萨也是1921年白人暴徒血腥屠杀非裔美国人的地方，这是该国历史上针对黑人的最严重的暴力事件之一。
卡森说:“移动它可能是件好事。”他指出，他和特朗普谈过移动集会的事，并对自己对6月20日的了解程度感到“惊喜”。
但他对特朗普在佛罗里达州杰克逊维尔接受共和党总统提名的新计划的质疑不予理会，该计划是在“周六斧柄”60周年纪念日举行的，当时一群白人暴徒和三k党成员在午餐柜台静坐抗议种族隔离后追捕并殴打非裔美国人。
“我们一些著名的大学与奴隶贸易有关系。我们应该去给那些大学重新命名吗?”他说。“过一段时间后，这真的会变得荒谬，你知道，我们将不得不作为一个社会成长。”
这位退休的神经外科医生也支持特朗普在俄克拉荷马州举行集会的计划，尽管该市的COVID-19病例越来越多。塔尔萨卫生部主任表示，他“希望”集会能够延期。
卡森说:“我认为，如果与公共卫生专家合作，也就是与他们合作，这是完全可以接受的。”。
“非常重要的是，我们要利用我们所学到的关于疾病的知识，这样我们才能忍受它，而不是让它主宰我们，”他说。
特朗普竞选团队告诉美国广播公司新闻，集会上将采取安全预防措施，但尚未提供任何细节。
卫生专家警告说，这种病毒很容易在拥挤的室内场所传播。特朗普竞选团队在其网站上的集会注册页面上增加了一个免责条款，如果有任何参与者签约COVID-19，该条款将免除竞选团队和集会地点的责任。
Carson declines to back Trump's claim on being best president for African Americans since Lincoln
Housing and Urban Development SecretaryBen Carsonon ABC's "This Week" declined to back up PresidentDonald Trump'srepeated claim thathe's done more for the African American community than any president since Abraham Lincoln,saying the debateis "not productive."
"To get into an argument about who has done the most probably is not productive, but it is good to acknowledge the things that have been done," Carson said on Sunday.
Pressed by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on Trump's claim, Carson said it's an "important thing for us to acknowledge what has happened in the past," while alsotouting Trump's recordon criminal justice reform and funding for historically black colleges and universities.
"We should be willing to look at what we've done collectively together to make progress," he said.
The only African American cabinet secretary in the Trump administration, Carson said Americans need to stop "putting everything in the arena of combat" and "find a way to work together" following George Floyd's murder in police custody, and the ongoing protests over racial inequality and police brutality.
"We obviously need to acknowledge that there's a reason that the protests are going on," he said. "But it also means we need to open the discussion, we need to listen to the police as well as the protesters."
President Donald Trump listens as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in Washington.
Questioned by Stephanopoulos on Trump's repeated calls for law enforcement to "dominate the streets," Carson suggested Trump was saying "we cannot submit to anarchy."
"I think we would all agree with that," he said. "We might not all express it the same way but we would all agree with it."
Carson praised the president's decision to move his planned Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally from Juneteenth. Tulsa was also the site of a bloody massacre of African-Americans by a white mob in 1921 -- one of the worst episodes of violence against black Americans in the country's history.
"It's probably good to have moved it," said Carson, who noted that he spoke to Trump about moving the rally and was "pleasantly surprised" by how much he knew about Juneteenth.
But he dismissed questions about new plans for Trump to accept the Republican Party's nomination for president in Jacksonville, Florida, on the 60th anniversary of "Ax Handle Saturday," when a white mob and members of the Klu Klux Klan chased down and beat African Americans, following a lunch counter sit-in protesting segregation.
"Some of our prestigious universities have a relationship with the slave trade. Should we go and rename those universities?" he said. "It really gets to a point of being ridiculous after a while, and, you know, we're going to have to grow up as a society."
The retired neurosurgeon also supported Trump's plans to hold the rally in Oklahoma despite the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the city. The director of the Tulsa Health Department has said he "wishes" the rally would be postponed.
"I think if it's done in conjunction with the public health experts, which it is being done in conjunction with them, that is quite acceptable," Carson said.
"It is very important that we utilize what we have learned about the disease so that we can live with it, rather than allow it to dominate us," he said.
The Trump campaign has told ABC News that safety precautions will be in place at the rally, but has yet to provide any details.
Health experts have warned that the virus can spread easily in crowded, indoor venues. The Trump campaign added a liability waiver to the sign-up page for the rally on its website, which would absolve the campaign and venue if any attendees contract COVID-19.
