PoliticsThe Republican front-runner launched into an extensive monologue about how he has been crushing his Republican competition in the polls before noting that Carson supposedly overtook him in Iowa.
"Here's the headline - headline, the biggest story, you see it, am I right? - 'Trump falls to second place in Iowa.' I said, 'No way!' The press was going crazy," Trump recalled, while expressing his disbelief in the results.
Then he took a jab at Carson for his soft-spoken demeanor.
"We informed Ben. But he was sleeping," Trump said to laughter.
Trump - who has led in the vast majority of national and state-based polls - was apparently referring to a pair of Iowa polls this week.
A Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register survey released Friday found Carson leading Trump 28% to 19% among likely GOP caucus-goers in Iowa. And a Quinnipiac University poll on Thursday found Carson up by a similar margin in the state.
In a Bloomberg Politics interview that aired earlier in the day, Carson was asked if he expected Trump to attack him as a result of his polling lead.
"I guess that really depends on whether he's a gentleman or not. I guess we'll find out. If he does attack me, I will continue to talk about the issues," he said. "My personal interactions with him have shown him to be a gentleman. I think there's another element sometimes when he's on camera."
Carson was also asked to contrast his temperament with the more outspoken Trump.
"There's no question that I'm a relatively calm person. A lot of people think that I'm half-asleep," he responded. "I guarantee you: I'm awake."