'He is not a racist': Ben Carson says Trump driven by 'kindness and compassion'

"You know, people say he's a racist, he is not a racist," Carson said. "When he bought Mar-a-Lago, he was the one who fought for Jews and blacks to be included in the clubs that were trying to exclude them."

Speaking at a Charlotte, North Carolina, community college event, Carson suggested Trump gets along with minorities who work for him. "You know, talking to the people who drive the cars and park the cars at Mar-a-Lago, they love him — the people who wash the dishes, because he's kind and compassionate," Carson said. 
Trump "reminds me so much of my mother," said Carson, who is black. "He recognizes that if you get an education, you write your own ticket." Trump is "a man deeply driven by a sense of kindness and compassion," Carson said.

Carson spoke as he opened for the president at an event promoting the administration's opportunity zone programs, designed to stimulate investment and growth in underserved areas. 

Trump has long incurred charges of racism. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said in August that his supporters are “at best looking the other way on racism,” a sentiment Buttigieg doubled down on over the weekend.