Ben Carson shrugs off Donald Trump's 'politics of personal destruction' to endorse GOP frontrunner

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson just endorsed his onetime Republican rival Donald Trump for president.

Carson and Trump made the announcement at Trump's opulent Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday morning. Trump praised Carson as a "special, special person" and Carson talked about the will of the people needing to be heard.

"This whole process getting involved in the political process was something I never particularly intended to do, but I listened to the people," Carson said. "It's really all about the people."

Carson said he had "come to know" Trump.

"I've come to know Donald Trump over the last few years. He's actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America. There are two different Donald Trumps: There's the one you see on the stage and there's one who's very cerebral," he said.

Trump at first confirmed Carson's assessment of the two different versions of himself, but later in the press conference reversed himself and said that what people see on stage is authentic. But Trump noted that he is a "deep thinker" and that people don't see that side of him as much.

The endorsement comes as somewhat of a surprise, considering the difference in tone between the two. Carson became known for his calm demeanor and refusal to get in the "mud" of politics, as his business manager, Armstrong Williams, once said.

Trump once compared Carson's "temper" to that of child molesters.

Carson said he and Trump had moved on from the campaign-trail attacks that Trump had lodged against him:

Some people said, "But, well, he said terrible things about you. How can you support him?" First of all, we buried the hatchet. That was political stuff. And that happens in American politics: the politics of personal destruction. … I do recognize that is part of the process. We move on. Because it's not about me. It's not about Mr. Trump. It's about America.

Trump said he didn't make any promises to Carson for a possible future position in his administration if he were to win the general election.