WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson refused to back off Monday from his comment that a Muslim shouldn’t be president.
“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,” the candidate’s business manager and close aide, Armstrong Williams, told CNN.
“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,” Williams added.
“It is not an issue of religion. It is an issue of one’s belief system, of how they will govern.”
Carson aides said the flap would actually help him in the primary, with polls showing that Republican voters are deeply suspicious about Islam.
“While the left wing is huffing and puffing over it, Republican primary voters are with us at least 80-20,” said campaign manager Barry Bennett.
“People in Iowa, particularly, are like, ‘Yeah, we’re not going to vote for a Muslim, either.’
“I don’t mind the hubbub. It’s not hurting us, that’s for sure.”
Carson has taken heat from both parties following his anti-Muslim remark Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” he had said. “I absolutely would not agree with that.”
The issue came up in connection to Donald Trump’s failure to confront a questioner at a town-hall event who referred to President Obama as a Muslim and asked how to “get rid of” Muslims.
Hillary Rodham Clinton weighed in on Twitter Monday, posting a quote from Article VI of the Constitution, prohibiting a religious test for federal office.
“Can a Muslim be President of the United States of America? In a word: Yes. Now let’s move on,” she tweeted.
GOP candidates Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul also invoked the article, while Sen. Lindsey Graham said the remark showed Carson wasn’t ready to be president.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest blasted the GOP for what he said was its willingness to countenance “offensive views.”
“Certainly, those views will be taken into account by voters,” Earnest said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday called on Carson to exit the race — a move dismissed by his camp.
“We are no longer interested in the rhetoric of CAIR and what they say,” Williams told CNN.
“Dr. Carson would not today, yesterday, or next week advocate having a Muslim in the White House as president of the United States. It is that simple. It is that clear.”
Additional reporting by Marisa Schultz
