Ben Carson says poverty is a state of mindHousing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is under fire for calling poverty a state of mind. In an interview with Sirius. XM Radio host Armstrong Williams that aired on Wednesday, Carson was asked about what could be done to reduce the number of people living in poverty. If everybody had a mother like mine, nobody would be in poverty, Carson started. She was a person who absolutely would not accept status of victim. Carson said its mind over matter. I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind, said Carson. You take somebody who has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street and I guarantee you in a little while theyll be right back up there. And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you can give them everything in the world, theyll work their way right back down to the bottom. Watch Army Of The Dead Online Mic more. More from NBC News Ben Carson calls slaves immigrants in first HUD remark. President meets with Palestinian President Abbas. Israeli Palestinian settlement debate complicates Trumps quest for peace deal. Carson also said parenting and a sense of strong values played a role in keeping people out of poverty. When he ran for president during the 2. Carson spoke frequently about his rise from abject poverty and his prescription for an up by the bootstraps approach to social progress. This isnt the first time Carson has caught heat for controversial remarks as a Trump Cabinet member. In his first address as Housing and Urban Development Secretary he compared slaves to immigrants. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, he said. They too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land. Later that day, Carson apologized for his remarks saying, The two experiences should never be intertwined, nor forgotten. On the campaign trail he criticized former President Barack Obamas black identity and connection with the African American community because of his biracial and bicultural heritage, calling it a bit of a stretch. Watch The Smurfs Christmas Special Online Metacritic. The former neurosurgeon was sworn in as HUD Secretary in March and he promised to use his gifted hands to heal the countrys affordable housing woes. He has spent this spring on a listening tour, visiting urban housing developments in various cities such as Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, and Miami. Watch Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story Download Full' title='Watch Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story Download Full' />Meanwhile, President Donald Trumps proposed budget cuts more than 6 billion in funding from the HUDs budget. Get the latest breaking news across the U. S. on ABCNews. com. Wasted money on unreliable and slow multihosters LinkSnappy is the only multihost that works. Download from ALL Filehosts as a premium user at incredibly fast speeds Download and listen to Suspense Mysteries Thrillers audio books featuring best sellers and toprated Audible.