With Ben Carson’s newfound popularity, he’s also earned some spotlight on his fairly radical views on the separation – or lack thereof – of church and state, specifically his views on Islam and Muslim Americans. Mr. Carson recently revealed that he would under no circumstance approve of a Muslim being elected as President of the United States. He claims, ignorantly, that the teachings of Islam are inconsistent with the principles of the United States Constitution, leaving no indication that he has read the articles concerning the freedom of religion and no litmus test based on religion.
CNN, in particular, has dedicated itself recently to hammering Mr. Carson on his Islamophobia. In an interview with CNN correspondent Jake Tapper, Carson was grilled on his previous remarks and reminded of the words of the Constitution: “no religious test shall ever be required as qualification to any office.” Despite his vast education as a neurosurgeon, Carson seemed woefully unprepared and unable to tackle this hypocrisy in his views.
He has supported his reputation as a thinker, but was completely stumped by Jake Tapper’s questions – so stumped, in fact, that his campaign manager had to end the interview to avoid any further embarrassment. As Carson continues to run into a brick wall repeatedly, viewers can hear a voice coming from off-camera declaring, “this interview is over.”
We can only hope the same is true for Ben Carson’s campaign.