Retired surgeon Ben Carson will endorse Donald Trump for president — a development that could strengthen the front-runner’s support among conservatives and evangelicals, according to a report Thursday.
Carson, who suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination last week, planned to announce the endorsement Friday morning, the Washington Post reported, citing sources.
Carson’s backing is the most high-profile boost for the billionaire businessman since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backed him last month.
The deal was completed Thursday morning when Carson met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the mogul’s luxe Palm Beach, Fla., club, sources told the paper.
The announcement will also take place at the club, where the former rivals will appear together at a news conference, according to the report.
Neither Trump’s campaign nor Carson’s rep would confirm the endorsement, but both acknowledged the pair had met.
The soft-spoken Carson, an author and former pediatric neurosurgeon, was a favorite of the GOP’s conservative base early in the campaign, and that popularity briefly put him among the leaders in polls.
His decision to support Trump was unexpected because the real estate tycoon had viciously attacked him during the campaign over his policies and life story.
Appearing Thursday on Fox News radio, Carson hinted that he was leaning toward a particular candidate and was complimentary of Trump.
“There’s two Donald Trumps. There’s the Donald Trump that you see on television and who gets out in front of big audiences, and there’s the Donald Trump behind the scenes,” he said.
“They’re not the same person. One’s very much an entertainer, and one is actually a thinking individual.”
Earlier Thursday, rival Ted Cruz said Trump was the GOP front-runner because he appealed to “low-information” voters — essentially calling Trump’s backers dummies.
“Donald has done well in the Southeastern states. He has had a good base of support.
“Donald does well with voters who have relatively low information, who are not that engaged and who are angry and they see him as an angry voice,” Cruz said on “The Brody File.”
The Texas senator credited voters who are smarter — those who were “more informed” — for his own recent wins in the Idaho, Maine and Kansas contests.
“Where we are beating him is when voters get more engaged and they get more informed. When they inform themselves, they realize his record,” Cruz said.
He said he understands Trump fans’ anger — but argued that it should be directed at the businessman himself, who Cruz claimed was up to his neck in Washington’s fetid swamp of corruption.
“Donald gave a press conference where he said, to quote him, ‘I love the poorly educated.’ I think Donald is taking advantage of his voters because I understand what they’re angry about, but if you’re angry at the corruption of Washington, you don’t solve it by supporting someone who has been enmeshed in the Washington corruption for 40 years,” he said.
Trump supporters took to social media to bash Cruz’s comments.
“I support #TRUMP100Percent and I am NEITHER ‘Low Informed’ or ‘Not Engaged’ and you Senator Ted Cruz are nothing,” tweeted Mary Kathy Smith.
Meanwhile, Utah’s Mike Lee on Thursday became the first US senator to back Cruz.