Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Thursday to share his vision for the Department of Housing and Urban Development if the Senate confirms him as its next secretary.

In early December, President-elect Donald Trump announced Carson, who was a rival contender for the White House, as his pick to lead HUD.

Here are four highlights from Carson’s appearance:

1. On government assistance.

At the hearing, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis questioned Carson about his vision of best serving those who are on government programs.

“What is the best possible thing we can do for somebody who is on government assistance?” the North Carolina senator asked.

“Get them off of it,” Carson responded.

2. His childhood experience.

Carson said in a written statement that growing up in “inner city Detroit with a single mother who had a 3rd grade education” allowed him to understand housing insecurity.

Carson credited his mother for teaching him the importance of personal responsibility, and said that if confirmed as the next secretary of housing and urban development, he would do more than just advance its programs and funding.

3. Put medical clinics in neighborhoods.

Carson said that as part of his effort to enable and serve the beneficiaries of HUD programs, he plans to potentially put medical clinics in neighborhoods so that people don’t “rely on the emergency room where it costs five times more and where you don’t get kind of follow up that would prevent you from having stage five renal disease.”

4. Will work to benefit ‘all Americans.’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked Carson about his intentions to ensure that none of the money funneled through HUD would specifically benefit Trump’s real estate ties.

“My concern is whether or not, among the billions of dollars that you’ll be responsible for handing out in grants and loans, can you assure us that not one dollar will go to benefit either the president-elect or his family?” Warren asked.

Carson responded by saying that his work would be beneficial to all Americans, not just the select few.

“It will not be my intention to do anything to benefit any American, particularly,” Carson said. “It’s for all Americans, everything that we do.” (For more from the author of “4 Highlights from Ben Carson’s Confirmation Hearing” please click HERE)

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If President-elect Donald Trump calls, Ben Carson isn’t ready to rule out accepting a job in Trump’s Cabinet.

Carson, who supported Trump’s candidacy after dropping his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination, had said last week he is not interested in a spot in the new presidential administration.

Media reports that came out before Carson said he would not be part of the Cabinet suggested Carson may be offered the job of Secretary of Education, and had also been frequently mentioned as a potential pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services

On Sunday, Carson appeared on Fox News’s Fox Report Special and offered a different version of his intentions.

“Basically, I’ve said my preference is to be outside and to act as an adviser, but if after going through the process they all conclude it would be much better to have me in the Cabinet, I would have to give that very serious consideration,” Carson said. “It’s just not my preference.”

The retired neurosurgeon said his healthcare expertise gives him a unique perspective.

“… there is no question I have very strong opinions about healthcare and how it should be returned to the private sector, and you — the patients and the physicians — should have a quality experience, not be forced into something,” Cason said.

During his GOP campaign, Carson often spoke about issues related to the needs of urban youth

“I also feel very strongly about education,” Carson said Sunday. “I mean, you educate people, and you give them the keys to freedom. It doesn’t matter where they came from or what their background is, they write their own ticket.”

Carson suggested last week that he would assist Trump without a specific Cabinet role.

“The way I’m leaning is to work from the outside and not from the inside,” Carson told The Washington Post. “I want to have the freedom to work on many issues and not be pigeonholed into one particular area.”

“I’ve said that if it came to a point where he absolutely needs me, I’d reconsider. But I don’t think that’s the situation with these positions,” he added. “My view is that if some people and the media are going to hate him, then he’s going to need allies on the outside to be there, to be there to move the country forward. I don’t care about a position.”

Also last week, Armstrong Williams, Carson’s business manager, said Carson did not have the management skills needed to run a federal department.

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

In a guest column on WND, Williams noted that the issue was not what Carson lacks, but what he has.

“Part of what makes him so unique is his vision for what this country can achieve,” Williams wrote, noting that those who hold Cabinet jobs are managers, not visionaries.

“I have no doubt that Dr. Carson would have met and exceeded any challenge set before him and done a fantastic job,” he added. “However, it’s important to keep in mind that you can hire management, but not vision. It’s a unique attribute that people either possess or not.” (For more from the author of “Carson Says He Won’t Rule out Cabinet Job If Trump Offers” please click HERE)

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To Ben Carson, the release of the 2005 video in which Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump uses vulgar terms to describe pursuing women is part of the smear campaign America’s political class will continue to wage against Trump to keep him from the White House.

“I’m not seeing anything that I didn’t totally expect,” Carson said Saturday during an interview with Newsmax. “The political class and the media has to make this about Donald Trump. They cannot make this about the issues.”

Carson said the fact the tape was leaked at the same time WikiLeaks exposed damaging comments made by Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton in closed-door speeches is more than a coincidence.

“They’re getting desperate because they’re seeing the crowds that Trump is attracting. They see the enthusiasm gap between the candidates and they know how that’s going to translate on Election Day. Their goal is now is to dribble out all of these things like this tape,” said Carson, who added, “This won’t be the last thing, by the way.”

He said the flood of Republican denunciations since the tape came out shows the success of the tactic.

“They’ve been waiting to drop these things out periodically because for one thing, this Hillary open borders thing came out. This is obscuring that.

“Why aren’t we talking about what the implications of that are?” he said, referring to comments Clinton made about expanding free trade.

“It will change the nature of everything in this nation. They were very clever, and because they have the arm of the media it makes it very easy for them to get across what they’re doing. Unless people understand what’s going on,” he said.

Carson said the election is not a referendum on Trump or Clinton, but about the “direction of the country.”

“It’s about the elites and the status quo being desperate to maintain their position and this direction versus a change in direction that’s desperately needed,” he said.

“Their (Democrats) strategy will have some impact. Some people will always capitulate instead of fight. But by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans think we’re on the wrong track. That’s what you need to be talking about,” he said.

Carson, who throughout the campaign has distinguished between his opinion of Trump’s private style and the country’s need for change, said there is no argument that Trump “made some mistakes.”

“He concedes that,” Carson said. “Those are not good things to say, what he said in that tape. He’s not going to try to defend that. And he’s not going to allow this to become about him. The issues are too important.”

Carson characterized Trump Saturday as “resolute.”

“I think Donald has a very good understanding what’s going and why it’s imperative that he carry the torch for the people in terms of the issues and not allow him to be sidetracked by any of this,” Carson added. (For more from the author of “Carson: Dirty Trick Video a Tactic Born of Desperation to Derail Trump” please click HERE)

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