Muslim man confronts Ben Carson over anti-Islam comments

Hesham El-Meligy challenges US presidential hopeful's opinion that Muslims are unfit to lead the US

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson was confronted by a Muslim at a town hall meeting in Staten Island over his suggestion that a Muslim should not be the president of the United States.

During the question-and-answer session of the meeting, chairman of the Staten Island Libertarian Party, Hesham El-Meligy, challenged Carson’s opinion that a Muslim could never be president.



Quoting the US Constitution, El-Meligy asked the Republican presidential candidate, “It says, ‘No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.’ You have said before, you wouldn’t want a Muslim to be president of the United States. How can you reconcile?”

Carson was quick to respond. “That’s very easy to reconcile,” he said. “If you go back and look at what I said, I said I would not want a Muslim who accepted all the precepts of Islam, including Sharia.”

The statement prompted a standing ovation from many of the attendees.



Further, Carson added that he grew up in Detroit around a large Muslim population many of whom he said “had accepted America as their country.”



Last year in September, Carson said Muslims were unfit to be president of the United States, arguing their faith was inconsistent with American principles.



“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,” Carson told NBC Meet the Press.

Carson was widely criticised for his comments on Islam, and Muslims in general, which resulted in a sharp decline in his favourability ratings in national polls following the comments.