Ben Carson has managed to go too far for Ted Cruz's comfort. Carson said Sunday that he wouldn't support a Muslim for president because he didn't believe that Islam is consistent with the Constitution, and while criticism from people like Bernie Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, could be expected, it also came from
some unexpected sources:
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said that Carson should apologize to American Muslims. Ted Cruz reminded Carson that “the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office.” John Kasich said the most important qualifications to be president were unrelated to religion.
Carson is mostly sticking with the tradition of religious intolerance that in past generations led to vicious attacks on Catholic candidates for president:
A campaign spokesman told NBC Sunday that Carson will be reaching out to the Muslim community but maintained that there’s a “huge gulf between the faith and practice of the Muslim faith, and our Constitution and American values.”
I'm sure that's going to be some very popular outreach. And isn't it rich that the candidate applying an unconstitutional test to who should be president is claiming to do so in the name of the Constitution? I guess Ben Carson citing the Constitution is like the devil citing scripture.