Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, 2015. (John Locher/AP)
Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump said Sunday that he saw no reason
to apologize for raising the issue of rival Ben Carson's Seventh-day
Adventist faith during a recent campaign rally.
"I would
certainly give an apology if I said something bad about it. But I
didn't. All I said was I don't know about it," Trump said during an
interview on ABC's "This Week," one of three Sunday talk shows on which
the billionaire businessman talked about recent polls that showed Carson
pulling a
Trump dismissed a suggestion by host George Stephanopoulos that by
mentioning Carson's religious affiliation he was trying to "send a dog
whistle" to "some conservatives [who] claim the Seventh-day Adventists
are not Christian."
"No, not at all," Trump said.
Trump had brought up Carson's religion on Saturday, during a rally in Florida.
"I'm
Presbyterian, he said. "Boy, that's down the middle of the road, folks,
in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don't know about. I
just don't know about."
Carson, in an interview on Fox News,
declined to strike back but noted that Trump "went ballistic" several
weeks ago when Carson questioned Trump's faith, saying the difference
between him and Trump was that “I’ve realized where my success has come
from, and I don’t in any way deny my faith in God.”
"So it seems
a little interesting that he would now be doing that," Carson noted.
Carson, who has also said he would not support a Muslim for president,
later apologized for the comments about Trump's faith.
Carson
also passed when Fox News anchor Chris Wallace reminded him of Trump's
criticisms about his rival's energy level and his stand on immigration.
"I
really refuse to really get into the mud pit," Carson said, adding that
Trump "is who he is. I don't think that's going to change. And I am who
I am. That's not going to change, either."
He continued: "And
the way I kind of look at it, if people resonate what I'm talking about
... And if they like that, and it works with them, and they feel I'm the
good representative for them, that's great. I would love to have their
vote. And if they don't want me, that's fine, too. Because I would never
lie just to get an office. I wouldn't be happy, and the people wouldn't
be happy."
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has struggled
historically to be accepted by mainstream Protestants. It traces its
roots to lay theologian William Miller, who predicted the return of
Jesus Christ in 1844, the movement was abandoned by some of its early
followers and dismissed as a cult after Miller's prediction didn't pan
out.
Over the decades, leaders of the church have touted their
belief in Christian doctrine, though some Christians still look at them
with skepticism, as they do with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Mitt
Romney, the GOP's 2012 nominee, is a Mormon, and while his faith was
mentioned, it was never a major issue in that race.
Carson, who
has said that he was twice baptized as a Seventh-day Adventist, talks
frequently about his belief in God and the need to defend religious
freedom, but not as much about his specific faith. In a 1999 interview
with the Religion News Service, he said: "I spend just as much time in
non-Seventh-day Adventist churches because I’m not convinced that the
denomination is the most important thing. I think it’s the relationship
with God that’s most important.”
In
their dueling Sunday show appearances, Trump kept up his aggressive
rhetoric about his political prowess and Carson continued his confident
but low-key approach to the campaign.
Trump suggested in
interviews on Sunday that he was a bit taken aback by polls that show
Carson, whom he has criticized as lacking energy, pulling ahead of him
in Iowa. A Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register released Friday showed
Carson with 29 percent support to Trump's 19 percent. The day before a
Quinnipiac University poll had Carson ahead of Trump 28-20.
"I
was really surprised to see it, because three nights ago, I was in Iowa.
We had a packed house. We had 4,000 people, and it was a lovefest,"
Trump said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union." "And I have
done really well with the evangelicals and with the tea party and
everything. And I just don't understand the number. But you know what? I
accept the number. It means I have to work a little bit harder in
Iowa."
Carson, in an interview on Fox News, attributed his surge
in Iowa to "the power of social media and of word of mouth because as
you know ... a lot of the media has it in for me. But, you know, if
people listen to them, you know, I would be polling at less than zero."
Carson,
who has gotten high marks for likability from grassroots Republican
Party activists, continues to struggle to explain his policy positions.
Wallace spent several minutes trying to get him to clearly articulate
his plan for personal health-care accounts, which Carson has suggested
could replace Medicare for some older Americans.
Wallace kept
saying that Carson was not being clear about whether and how much the
government would contribute to the accounts and whether such accounts
are simply a new form of Medicare.
"If we take those same dollars
and divert them into a system that gives you control over your home
health care, you and your health-care provider cut out the middle man,
the bureaucracy. Those dollars go much further. We won't have to use
many of them. The dollars are already there, Chris," Carson said.
Wallace
seemed unconvinced and ended by interview by saying: "Well, this is
interesting, obviously, to be continued.... With more prominence in the
polls, more discussion of your proposal."
Trump, in his "This Week" interview, said he agreed with Carson's proposal.
"I'm
okay with the savings accounts. I think it's a good idea; it's a very
down-the-middle idea. It works. It's something that's proven," he said.
head of him in Iowa.
Washington Post
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