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Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson coming to Ogden, invited by Weber County GOP

By Tim Vandenack - | Aug 30, 2022

Photo supplied

Ben Carson, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Donald Trump, will speak in Ogden on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. The Weber County Republican Party is sponsoring the visit.

OGDEN — To bolster engagement with the Republican Party, Weber County GOPers are bringing Ben Carson, a cabinet secretary under President Donald Trump, to Ogden to speak.

Bringing such a high-level speaker to Weber County is a first for the local party, said Jake Sawyer, the Weber County Republican Party chairman. The aim, he said, is to better connect the public with the party and drive turnout for GOP candidates ahead of the November general election.

Carson, who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under Trump, will speak at the Dee Events Center on the campus of Weber State University in Ogden on Oct. 22. Tickets go from $30 for general admission to $150 for a meet-and-greet session with Carson to $1,000 for a ticket that includes a private meeting with the man. Go to the Weber County Republican Party website at bit.ly/3KyAUV0 for more details.

Party leaders brainstormed ideas for speakers, settling on Carson, a neurosurgeon who ran for president in 2016 before serving under Trump. Sawyer noted Carson’s demeanor.

“He’s a very level-headed, common-sense politician. He takes a very pragmatic approach to politics,” Sawyer said.

Election Day is Nov. 8 and a number of spots are on the ballot in Weber County — for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Mike Lee, several Utah House and Utah Senate posts and more.

Carson was raised in poverty, but overcame the limits of his humble beginnings in attending Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School. The lesson from Carson, Sawyer said, is that “you can do incredible things,” and that will be a theme of his address here in Ogden.

Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute, a nonprofit group that fights for “faith, liberty, community and life,” the principles, the group says, that have guided Carson in his life.

“Guided by our cornerstones of faith, liberty, community, and life, the American Cornerstone Institute (ACI) will strengthen the bonds that hold our country together by promoting conservative, commonsense solutions to the issues facing our society,” reads the group’s website. “These four cornerstones laid the foundation for the greatest nation the world has ever seen. Their promotion and preservation can secure the United States of America as a beacon of hope and freedom for generations to come.”

The Weber County Republican Party is paying Carson $55,000 to speak here.

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