Rand: I Would Vote For a Muslim, But ‘There Would Be Some Questions’

Kentucky Senator and Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul stated that he would support a Muslim president, “if they support the things that made America great,” “But I do think there would be some questions to ask” on Tuesday’s “Situation Room” on CNN.

Rand said that there is a difference between the law and people’s personal beliefs, and the Constitution prevents any sort of religious test for holding office.

He continued, “I think there’s an honest question that voters would have. There’s obviously nothing precluding a Muslim from holding office. And we do have several Muslims who I think are conscientious and well-meaning in Congress, and some who I’ve actually worked with on legislation on criminal justice reform. But I do think there would be some questions to ask. Do you believe literally that a woman should be stoned to death for adultery? Do you believe that when someone steals something, their hands should be cut off? Under strict Islamic law, in countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei, other places, particularly some of these places — this has been a question with Hillary Clinton. She’s taken money from some of these Islamic countries, that live under Islamic law, but they aren’t very good to women. Women don’t have the same rights as men. In fact, for adultery, I think women’s testimony counts half as much as men’s.”

Rand added that he could support a Muslim “if they support the things that made America great, constitutional principles, Bill of Rights, but some of those are inconsistent with the interpretation of the Koran that’s being put forward by, particularly some folks. And I think this is a big deal because we’ve made this really simple that, oh, Ben Carson is terrible because he said this, but think about what he’s saying. In England, for example, 20% of the Islamic public in England thought the bombings were okay on the subway. These are important questions to ask if you have someone who’s Muslim running for office. Do you think violence is okay? Do you think shariah law should be the law of the land? Do you think that the 9/11 bombings were OK? For goodness sakes, I surely wouldn’t vote for any Christian, or Muslim that thought that violence was a way to shape your religious views.”

Rand concluded by saying President Obama is a Christian who was born in the US.

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett