Carson talks to Missouri delegates about everything but Trump

One-time presidential candidate Ben Carson met with Missouri delegates Wednesday to talk about a variety of topics: education, poverty, the origin of the universe, the U.S. Constitution.

They did not talk about Donald Trump. In a 23-minute speech, the GOP’s presidential nominee never came up.

Instead, Carson talked about his life story, suggesting it could be a model for others trapped in poverty. Carson attended Yale University after a challenging childhood in Detroit.

The speech included numerous references to God and Scripture, but secular references were dropped in too.

Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California is “a disaster,” Carson said.

“There are 4.1 million federal employees,” he said. “We don’t need 4.1 million federal employees.”

He compared the debate over transgender rights to an episode of the Twilight Zone television show. “For thousands of years, we have known what a man is and what a woman is. Now we don’t know anymore.”

Carson touched only briefly on race — he referred to one-time politician David Duke as racist — but he repeatedly decried “political correctness” in current debates.

After the speech, Carson told The Star he doesn’t think criticism of Trump’s statements on race are fair.

“You should make your decisions based on the people who work for him,” Carson told the newspaper. “There are a lot of Hispanics, a lot of African Americans. They love him. That tells you a lot more than the propaganda.”

Dozens of Missouri delegates posed for pictures with Carson. It wasn’t clear if he discussed Trump with any of them.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Carson talks to Missouri delegates about everything but Trump."