Former GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson says Harriet Tubman doesn’t belong on the $20 bill — but might fit in on the $2 bill.
“Andrew Jackson was the last president who actually balanced the federal budget…in honor of that we kick him off the money,” Carson told Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto. “I love Harriet Tubman, I love what she did. But can we find another way to honor her. Maybe a $2 bill?”
The $2 bill is far less common than bills in other denominations because the U.S. has not printed them since 2003, according to the Treasury. But the bills remain in circulation.
Tubman is expected to officially grace the $20 bill by 2020. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reversed a plan to bump Alexander Hamilton from the $10 bill after a backlash, including from “Hamilton” mastermind Lin Manuel Miranda.
Instead, the department will replace Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. Tubman was an African-American abolitionist hero and spy for the Union Army during the Civil War.
This marks the first appearance of a black person on U.S. currency and the only the second appearance of a woman on U.S. paper currency. In addition to Tubman replacing Jackson on the front of the $20 bill, there will be changes to the backs of some bills.
Carson, who dropped out of the GOP presidential race in early March, surprised many pundits Tuesday night by beating Ted Cruz in certain sections of New York during the primary — even though Cruz is no longer in the running.