Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, is facing criticism after calling poverty a "state of mind," NBC News reported.
Carson was asked in a SiriusXM radio interview with Armstrong Williams that aired Wednesday what can be done to reduce the number of people living in poverty, he credited his own success story to his headstrong mother.
But then Carson delved deeper, saying, "I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind." He added that people — no matter what they have — need to have "the right mindset."
Carson spoke frequently about his rise from abject poverty and his approach to social progress while running for president during the 2016 primaries.