Despite the backlash, Ben Carson will not take back his comment that a Muslim should not be president.
On Sunday, the Republican presidential hopeful told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that because Islam is not consistent with the Constitution, being president should be off-limits for someone who is Muslim.
And despite the outrage that followed over the comment, his business manager said Monday morning that his candidate will stand by the remark.
“He was thinking like someone who loves America first, who wants to protect America. He understands that there are tenets of Islam that hates Jews, that kills homosexuals, will kill Muslims, do not advocate belief and value systems that made America into the country that it is today,” business manager and conservative political commentator Armstrong Williams told Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s “New Day.”
When Camerota pointed out that the aforementioned views are those held by only extremists, Williams pushed that Carson is “not trying to be politically correct.”
“Dr. Carson was asked his opinion. His opinion was, the timing at this point, he would not vote for a Muslim in the White House. This is why he’s not a politician. This is why he’s not trying to be politically correct. This is America. It’s a place of freedom of speech,” he said. “It is not an issue of religion, it is an issue of one’s belief system, of how they will govern.”
Camerota then read part of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids any sort of religious test being used against someone running for a government position.
“Dr. Carson, Alisyn, as you’re alluding to, was not speaking about religion, not at all. He is like most Americans in their hearts and they search themselves and they ask questions. If you see what’s going on in the world today, and you ask questions, if you search yourself deeply and ask yourself, at this time in the history of our country, in the question that was posed to him, which he asked and answered truthfully, is that he would not be comfortable with someone who shares the Islamic Muslim faith in the White House,” Armstrong replied, adding, “And if Dr. Carson, because of his love for America, he is willing, everything is not about winning the White House for him, it’s about standing up for what he believes in, telling the truth, even if it makes CNN and others uncomfortable. It is what he believes.”
He continued: “It is not about Christian, it is not about Jew, it is not about religion. It is about what one believes and what they would advocate if they became president of these United States.”
Williams added that Carson “will not take it [the remark] back.”
On Sunday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Carson to withdraw from the race.
“It’s unimaginable that the leading GOP presidential candidates are resorting to fear mongering to benefit their campaigns, and every American should be disturbed that these national figures are engaging in and tolerating blatant acts of religious bigotry,” U.S. Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota – the first Muslim elected to Congress – said in a statement Sunday.
However, Williams was firm that Carson would not sit down with Muslim groups to clarify his remark.
“Only, Alisyn, you and others feel that there is something to clarify. You don’t need to clarify what you believe in,” he replied when asked.
Carson’s campaign has picked up steam in recent months: with 18.8 points, he is currently in second place in a RealClearPolitics average of polls for 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls. What kind of impact his remark will have is still to be seen.
