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Ben Carson Doesn't Want A Job In Donald Trump's Cabinet

He's realized he lacks any government experience.
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By 

Reporter, HuffPost

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Ben Carson doesn't wish to "cripple the presidency," according to an adviser.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun/Reuters

Dr. Ben Carson is sitting out the next four years of Donald Trump’s administration ― at least officially. 

Carson, a onetime Republican candidate for the presidency, will not seek a position in Trump’s Cabinet “or any position in the administration,” Carson adviser Armstrong Williams told Politico on Tuesday. 

“Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency,” Williams told The Hill. “The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”

Carson’s name has been floated as a potential pick for either secretary of education or secretary of health and human services. Speaking to multiple news outlets on his behalf, Williams said that no specific role had been offered to Carson, but that numerous options were open. 

The retired neurosurgeon has never held elected office. He was one of three GOP presidential primary candidates ― the other two being Trump and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina ― who had no prior political experience. 

After Carson bowed out of the primary, he was among the first former rivals to become a Trump backer. In his election-night victory speech, Trump described Carson as a competitor turned true friend. 

Carson is still expected to advise Trump in an unofficial capacity. 

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Before You Go

Ben Carson Through The Years
(01 of09)
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Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks, Ben Carson, Ralph Abernathy and Levy Watkins at Johns Hopkins University during a celebration of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, Baltimore, Maryland, 1980. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images) (credit:Afro Newspaper/Gado via Getty Images)
(02 of09)
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SINGAPORE - JULY 6: In this handout photo from Raffles Hospital, Dr. Keith Goh (left) adjusts the frame on conjoined twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani as Dr. Ben Carson observes the start of neurosurgery proceedings at the Raffles Hospital July 6, 2003 in Singapore. Doctors reported positive early progress in the operation to separate the 29 year old twins, who are joined at the head. (Photo by Raffles Hopsital/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images via Getty Images)
(03 of09)
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PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL - NOVEMBER 06: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks to the media before speaking at a gala for the Black Republican Caucus of South Florida at PGA National Resort on November 6, 2015 in Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Carson has come under media scrutiny for possibly exaggerating his background and other statements he has made recently. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (credit:Joe Raedle via Getty Images)
(04 of09)
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US neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson addresses a press conference at the Indraprashtra Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, 04 October 2005. Carson is ready to separate ten-year-old Indian twins Sabah and Farah joined at the head as soon as their parents give permission, an Indian hospital official said. Carson and a team of 20 specialists approved the procedure after studying an angiogram of the brains of the twins at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in the Indian capital, said medical director Anupam Sibal. But the final decision rests with the parents of the twins, who were to return to Patna, capital of the impoverished eastern Indian state of Bihar, to consult with friends and family, Sibal told a media conference at the hospital. (credit:RAVEENDRAN via Getty Images)
(05 of09)
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Dr. Ben Carson is interviewed during a live streaming Web-A-Thon with Wake Up America September 5, 2014 at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who would run in the 2016 Presidential campaign as a conservative for the Tea Party. (credit:Laura Segall via Getty Images)
(06 of09)
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Ben Carson, possible 2016 presidential candidate, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. The 42nd annual CPAC, which runs until Feb. 28, features most of the potential Republican candidates for president, from Carson and Carly Fiorina to Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(07 of09)
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Dr. Ben Carson (C) chats with guests after a live streaming Web-A-Thon with Wake Up America September 5, 2014 at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who would run in the 2016 Presidential campaign as a conservative for the Tea Party. (credit:Laura Segall via Getty Images)
(08 of09)
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Johns Hopkins Children's Center Neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson (C) holds a model of the conjoined twins Lea and Tabea Block during a press conference, 16 September, 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland. Surgeons completed the separation of the twins from Lemgo, Germany, who had been joined at the head, but Tabea died of major complications associated with the surgery. (credit:MIKE THEILER via Getty Images)
(09 of09)
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U.S. President George W. Bush (R) presents a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. M.D (L), for his work withneurological disorders during an East Room ceremony June 19, 2008 at the White House in Washington, DC. The medal is the nation's highest civilian award. (credit:Alex Wong via Getty Images)
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