DETROIT — Ben Carson is launching his presidential bid with a declaration that people have lost hope for their country under President Obama.
“People have lost hope,” Carson told supporters at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
{mosads}Carson cited the unrest in Baltimore, where riots broke out last week in protest of the death of a 25-year-old black man in police custody.
He argued that some rioters saw looting as the only economic opportunity available to them. He also argued that liberal economic policies have created an environment where people were resigned to living off government welfare because they lack opportunities.
“This country has the most dynamic economy in the world, all you have to do is let it loose,” Carson said.
The retired neurosurgeon, speaking to an audience in his hometown, also called on supporters to defend their Christian faith in the face of what he said was a growing tide of secularism.
“We have to get back to the point where we are not ashamed of being people of faith,” Carson said to a huge burst of applause from about 100 supporters.
“That doesn’t mean we force our beliefs on anyone, but no one should be able to curtail what we say and what we do and how we believe,” Carson continued in front of his hometown audience.
“It’s up to us to have the courage to stand up to the secular progressives who want to take God out of everything while the country goes down in a tailspin. We need to bring those values back again,” Carson said.
Carson condemned the welfare state, arguing it’s the responsibility of citizens, churches and charities to take care of those who have fallen behind.
“It’s not the federal government’s responsibility,” Carson said.
“Witness the 1960s and the war on poverty,” he continued. “What has happened since that time? We’ve spent over $17 trillion, and we have more poverty. There are 10 times more people on food stamps, more broken homes, more incarceration and crime. It’s not a matter of just throwing money at it.”
Carson is set to formally announce his presidential bid later on Monday. He’ll be the only African-American in the race for the 2016 Republican nomination.
Following the prayer breakfast, Carson sat on a panel and gave professional and life advice to about 100 mostly black students at the school that bears his name, the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine.
“Young ladies, it’s a mistake to have a baby while you’re still young and out of wedlock,” Carson said. “You need to wait, and you need to preserve yourself. Don’t just give yourself away to some guy. And guys — you need to respect the ladies. Don’t just do something to be cool, because guess what? You’re going to get a disease that will affect you for the rest of your life.”
The school prepares young students for careers in the medical profession. A handful of students stood and gave testimonials to the crowd about how the school had given them the direction and focus that they had lacked in their lives.
After the panel, the students stood and performed the school chant for Carson, declaring in unison, “We got the power.”
Carson will hit the launch button on his presidential campaign from the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Detroit after the rally.
— This story was updated at 9:30 a.m.