Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Republican presidential candidate and retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben
Carson doubled down on his remarks, which ignited a controversy over a person who is a Muslim not being qualified to be president if they put their religious law before the Constitution of the Untied States.
Carson said “Let me tell you what I would advocate, I would advocate that people go back and look at the transcript of what I actually said. …I would have problems with somebody who embraced all the doctrines associated with Islam. If they are not willing to reject sharia and all the portions of it that are talked about in the Quran. If they are not willing to reject that, and subject that to American values and the Constitution, then of course, I would. I would ask you, would you be willing to do that? Would you be willing to advocate for somebody who would not do that? Probably not. …Is it possible that maybe the media thinks it’s a bigger deal than the American people do? Because American people, the majority of them, agree and they understand exactly what I am saying.”
He added, “I know a lot of Muslims who are very patriotic, good Americans. and they gladly admit at least privately that they don’t accept Sharia or the doctrines and they understand that Islam is a system of living and it includes the way that you relate to the government and you cannot unless you specifically deny that portion of Islam, be a Muslim in good standing. Now if that is the case, if your not willing to reject that, then how in the world can you possibly be the President of the United States? …You have to reject the tenets of Islam, yes, you have to.”
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