Washington , (HargeisaPress) — GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson says in an interview airing Sunday that he doesn’t believe the United States should have a Muslim president because Islam is inconsistent with the Constitution.
![Ben Carson speaks during the CNN Republican presidential debate. (AP)](https://i0.wp.com/hargeisapress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ben-carson-gallery-1-exlarge-169.jpg?resize=696%2C392)
The wisdom of so publicly excluding an entire religion from the presidency aside, Carson has plenty of people who feel just like he does. A Gallup poll in June showed 38 percent of Americans said they would not support a Muslim candidate for president. The only less-desirable characteristics tested were being an atheist (40 percent) and a socialist (50 percent).
And the GOP is particularly sour on the idea of a Muslim president. While 60 percent overall and 73 percent of Democrats said they could vote for a Muslim, just 45 percent of Republicans said this. Only when it comes to a socialist candidate was there a bigger gap between the two parties.There have been discussions in recent presidential elections about whether Americans would vote for a Mormon candidate (Mitt Romney), a woman (Hillary Clinton), an African American (Obama) and even a Jewish vice presidential candidate (Joe Lieberman in 2000). All are clearly more acceptable to Americans than would be a Muslim candidate.
By Aaron Blake