Ben Carson scolds Maxine Waters: 'Basic manners elude you'

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson gave a scolding to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on Monday, accusing her of caring more about show-boating than working to addressing homelessness in her district and telling the congresswoman: "Basic manners elude you."

 

What are the details?

"My mother always taught me that people shouldn't throw rocks, especially while they live in a glass house," Carson wrote to Waters in a letter obtained by Politico. "Because of that wise lesson, I was a little surprised to read your hostile letter to President [Donald] Trump regarding the record number of homeless Americans in California, particularly in your district."

Sec. Carson was reacting to a letter Rep. Waters wrote President Trump last month, where she told the president, "Your shamelessness knows no bounds," demanding details on his administration's "reported plans to unilaterally demolish homeless tent camps and relocate homeless individuals to federally-owned facilities."

"Shamelessness is a career politician of 30 years laying blame," Carson wrote in response. "Shamelessness is allowing more than 55,000 Americans to live on the very streets they represent."

The HUD chief went on to defend the Trump administration's plans by saying, "To me, the most compassionate, obvious, and logical solution would be to get as many homeless Americans off the streets — with a roof over their heads — as soon as humanly possible."

"I have sent multiple letters to your office and requested numerous meetings, but each time you've refused," Carson continued. "Basic manners elude you and it seems that instead of producing results, you're more interested in producing cheap headlines at the President's expense — like a true career politician."

Anything else?

Carson and Waters have had several feuds during Carson's tenure with the Trump administration, with Waters saying in 2017 that the HUD secretary — a brain surgeon by trade who grew up in poverty — "doesn't care about people in public housing."