Contributors:
Judy Cai and Fyn Foo
Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson sparked outrage on Sunday after stating his belief that a Muslim should not be elected president.
“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,” Carson said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
The retired neurosurgeon also claimed that Islam isn’t compatible with the “values and principles” of the U.S. Constitution. Since Sunday, Carson has received backlash from fellow politicians for his comments.
Senator Ted Cruz stated: “the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office” while senator Lindsey Graham remarked: “America is an idea, not owned by a particular religion”.
The first Muslim to be elected to Congress, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison said: “For Ben Carson, Donald Trump, or any other Republican politician to suggest that someone of any faith is unfit for office is out of touch with who we are as a people”.
Carson’s comments have also generated a discussion among the general public about the political eligibility of Muslims.
The hashtag #HowToStopAMuslimPresident was also born on Twitter as supporters of the Islamic community mock the pro-Carson comments.
A Buzzfeed article went further into the hashtag’s proliferation:
